Muslim immigration ban explained

A Muslim immigration ban is a ban, either absolute or from specific nations, on the immigration of Muslims to a specific nation.

Background

An early example of a Muslim immigration ban in the New World was a restriction against the importation of Africans into the Americas by the English and Spanish colonialists.[1]

Reasons for advocating a ban on "Muslim immigration" can include from being a side-effect of nativism (according to Hawley).[2]

Islamophobia increased in the United States after 9/11, and this has influenced its spread in other countries it has influence in.[3]

United States

See main article: Trump travel ban. On December 7, 2015, presidential candidate Donald Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on."[4] [5] The Muslim immigration ban has been seen as a result of the influence of the counter-jihad movement.[6] [7]

As President, Trump signed Executive Order 13769 on January 27, 2017, the first travel ban, which "suspended for 90 days the entry of certain aliens from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen."[8] [9] Further executive orders and presidential proclamations removed some of these countries and added others, including non-Muslim majority countries.[8] [10] [9] [11]

Formerly, the Naturalization Act of 1790 did not restrict immigration of Muslims, but indirectly prevented Muslim immigrants from obtaining citizenship, which was limited to any "free white person". Whiteness was associated with Christianity by the American courts, until the decision Ex Parte Mohriez recognized citizenship for a Saudi Muslim man in 1944.[12]

Australia

A 2016 poll found that half of all Australians wanted to ban Muslim immigration, with 49% of Australians supporting a ban.[13] [14] [15] In a 2017 poll of 2,000 people, 48% backed a ban, 27% were undecided, and a quarter opposed it.[16]

In 2017, Senator and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson after the London terror attack called for a Muslim immigration ban, saying "do not pray for London, pray for Muslim ban". This came one year after her maiden speech called for the same Ban.[17] [18] [19] [20]

In 2018, Senator Fraser Anning during his maiden speech called for a plebiscite to reintroduce the White Australia policy, especially with regard to excluding Muslims.[21] [22] [23]

India

Opposition to Muslim immigration can be traced back to the defence of Non-Muslim South Asian empires from Arab or Persian invaders.[24]

Before he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, minister Yogi Adityanath praised former U.S. President Trump's position on a Muslim immigration ban and stated that “similar action[s] [are] needed to contain terror activities in this country.”[25] [26] [27]

The BJP introduced a migrant law that excluded Muslims from applying for asylum from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, as all these are Muslim-majority countries where non-Muslims face persecution..[28]

Netherlands

Geert Wilders is a prominent advocate for a ban on immigration from Muslim nations in the Netherlands.[29] [30] [31] [32]

Russia

Long time Russian leader of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky had called for a ban on Muslim immigration.[33]

Sri Lanka

Refugees from countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently discriminated against, and social media has been hostile towards the idea of immigration from Muslim countries.[34] Muslim "preachers" can be deported if not holding a correct visa and/or preaching a form of Islam that is considered to be against the values of Sri Lanka.[35]

Muslims were expelled from the Northern Province in 1990 as part of a form of ethnic cleansing due to the Muslims' differences in terms of ethnicity and genetics, to the main and traditional home of Sri Lankan Muslims in the Eastern Province. Contact with Muslims in the post-war era has led to further Islamophobia as the local population have had little-to-no experience in dealing with Muslims, leading to further pogrom-like activity against the Muslim community.[36] [37]

Muslims can often be viewed as "foreign" to the island due to their history of ethnic segregation and other cultural and genetic differences.[38] Islamophobia has been described as a bridge between Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese in the post-war era.[39]

United Kingdom and Ireland

Opposition to immigration from Muslim countries has been widely debated in British and Irish culture.[40] [41] [42] An opinion poll in 2017 found that around half of British people wanted to stop immigration from Muslim majority countries.[43]

Shamima Begum was a teenage woman whose British citizenship was revoked due to her travelling to join the Islamic State, a group that is classed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government. This has been viewed as an Islamophobic citizenship and immigration policy.[44]

In the summer of 2024, Islamophobic anti-immigration riots rocked several parts of the UK in what was described as the worst rioting since the 2011 England riots. It was part of an uptick in Islamophobic riot activity including the 2023 Dublin riots and 2024 UK riots.[45]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Magazine . Smithsonian . Lawler . Andrew . Muslims Were Banned From the Americas as Early as the 16th Century . 2024-10-26 . Smithsonian Magazine . en.
  2. Web site: Ambivalent nativism: Trump supporters' attitudes toward Islam and Muslim immigration . 2024-10-26 . Brookings . en-US.
  3. Web site: Islamophobia Embraced as Anti-Globalization Tool YaleGlobal Online . 2024-10-25 . archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu.
  4. News: Trump calls for 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States'. Johnson. Jenna. December 7, 2015. The Washington Post. December 12, 2018. February 15, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210215181250/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/07/donald-trump-calls-for-total-and-complete-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-the-united-states/?noredirect=on. live.
  5. News: Trump Calls For 'Total And Complete Shutdown Of Muslims Entering' U.S.. Taylor. Jessica. December 7, 2015. NPR. December 12, 2018. February 15, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210215181253/https://www.npr.org/2015/12/07/458836388/trump-calls-for-total-and-complete-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-u-s. live.
  6. Book: Othen, Christopher . Soldiers of a Different God: How the Counter-Jihad Movement Created Mayhem, Murder and the Trump Presidency . 2018 . Amberley . 9781445678009.
  7. News: Trump's counter-jihad. February 13, 2017. Vox. Beauchamp. Zack.
  8. Web site: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States . 4 October 2023 . Federal Register . 2017-03-09.
  9. News: 2018-04-13. Maintaining Enhanced Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats. Federal Register.
  10. Web site: Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats . 4 October 2023 . Federal Register . 2017-09-27.
  11. News: Improving Enhanced Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats . Federal Register . 4 October 2023 . 2020-02-05.
  12. News: Opinion America banned Muslims long before Donald Trump . 2016-08-19 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20210228103614/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-anti-muslim-stance-echoes-a-us-law-from-the-1700s/2016/08/18/6da7b486-6585-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2_story.html . 2021-02-28 . live . Khaled A. . Beydoun .
  13. Web site: Koziol . Mark . Kenny . Michael. September 21, 2016. Half of all Australians want to ban Muslim immigration: poll. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  14. Web site: Medhora. Shalailah. September 21, 2016. One in two Australians want a ban on Muslim immigration, poll finds. triple j.
  15. Web site: September 22, 2016. Pauline Hanson says 49% support for ban on Muslim immigration is too low . Gareth . Hutchens . .
  16. Web site: Australians support partial ban on Muslim immigration: survey . 26 October 2017 . SBS News.
  17. Web site: 'Go back to where you came from': Hanson wants Muslims shut out. September 14, 2016. abc.net.au.
  18. Web site: 'Don't pray for London, pray for Muslim ban': Pauline Hanson responds to terror attack. au.finance.yahoo.com. 23 March 2017 .
  19. Web site: Pauline Hanson says Islam is a disease Australia needs to 'vaccinate'. Amy. Remeikis. March 24, 2017. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  20. Web site: Subscribe to The Australian | Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps. theaustralian.com.au.
  21. Web site: Dan . Conifer . 4 October 2023 . 'The final solution to the immigration problem': Anning calls for plebiscite on immigration. August 14, 2018. abc.net.au.
  22. Web site: Fraser Anning: MP's full speech on Muslim immigration ban . August 14, 2018 . News.Com.Au .
  23. News: Australian Senator Calls for 'Final Solution' to Muslim Immigration . Isabella . Kwai . The New York Times . August 15, 2018 .
  24. Web site: Muslim Conquest of North India, Ghaznavids, Ghurids [UPSC Medieval History] ]. 2024-10-26 . BYJUS . en.
  25. Web site: BJP's Adityanath praises US Prez Trump's 'Muslim ban', recommends it for India. 4 October 2023 . January 31, 2017. Hindustan Times.
  26. Web site: BJP's Yogi Adityanath Praises Trump Ban, Compares Western UP To Kashmir. 31 January 2017 . NDTV.com.
  27. Web site: Yogi Adityanath Seeks Trump-like Immigration Order in India. January 31, 2017. news18.com.
  28. News: 2024-03-11 . CAA: India to enforce migrant law that excludes Muslims . 2024-10-25 . en-GB.
  29. Web site: In rich, low crime Netherlands, why is Wilders so popular?. March 6, 2017. abc.net.au.
  30. Web site: Geert Wilders calls for Trump-style Muslim travel ban in Europe. December 17, 2017. the Guardian.
  31. Web site: Dutch election frontrunner says 'Islam and freedom are not compatible'. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/geert-wilders-dutch-pm-frontrunner-far-right-islamophobic-freedom-a7593466.html . 2022-06-18 . subscription . live. February 22, 2017. The Independent.
  32. Web site: Dutch 'Trump' lawmaker's defense of travel ban sparks argument . AP . . 31 January 2017 .
  33. News: Russia's Trump, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Wants to Build a Wall, Ban Muslims, and Nuke the White House. Anna. Nemtsova. The Daily Beast . September 7, 2016. thedailybeast.com.
  34. Web site: 2019-04-29 . Sri Lanka: Refugees Threatened, Attacked Human Rights Watch . 2024-10-25 . en.
  35. News: 2012-01-22 . Sri Lanka 'expels 161 foreign Muslim preachers' . 2024-10-25 . BBC News . en-GB.
  36. Web site: Islamaphobia and anti-Muslim hate in Sri Lanka . OHCHR.
  37. Book: Manogaran, Chelvadurai . Ethnic Conflict and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka . 1987-12-31 . University of Hawaii Press . 10.1515/9780824844981 . 10125/23029 . 978-0-8248-4498-1.
  38. Diaspora Studies 16 (2023) 142–171 | Mohamed Munas | orcid: 0000-0002-4470-3774 Department of Geography Planning and Environment, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Centre for Poverty Analysis, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  39. Web site: Aguilera-Carnerero . Carmen . 21 October 2019 . (C)overt Islamophobia: the aftermath of the Sri Lanka Easter attacks . Open Democracy.
  40. Web site: Greenwood . Martin . 2021-04-29 . Harsh Reality of Racism Faced by Muslim Immigrants . 2024-10-25 . Global Social Challenges . en-GB.
  41. Web site: Tinsley-Kent . Julia . 2024-01-26 . 'The UK's Immigration System is Islamophobic and Racist. Expanding Prevent into it Will Re-traumatise Refugees' . 2024-10-25 . Byline Times . en-GB.
  42. News: After anti-immigrant riots, what do British Muslims need to feel safe? . 2024-10-25 . Christian Science Monitor . 0882-7729.
  43. Web site: 2017-02-08 . Most Europeans want immigration ban from Muslim-majority countries, poll reveals . 2024-10-25 . The Independent . en.
  44. Jiwani . Yasmin . 2021 . Gendered Islamophobia in the Case of the Returning ISIS Women: A Canadian Narrative . Islamophobia Studies Journal . 6 . 1 . 52–77 . 10.13169/islastudj.6.1.0052 . 10.13169/islastudj.6.1.0052 . 2325-8381. free .
  45. News: Carroll . Rory . correspondent . Rory Carroll Ireland . 2024-01-23 . Dublin riots: solace and simmering grievances at Muslim-run soup kitchen . 2024-10-25 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.

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