During a two-day summit in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia, the African Union slammed President Donald Trump‘s ban on immigration from Muslim majority countries, saying it presents “one of the greatest challenges” for Africa.
“The very country to which many of our people were taken as slaves during the transatlantic slave trade has now decided to ban refugees from some of our countries,” AU head Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said.
“What do we do about this? Indeed, this is one of the greatest challenges to our unity and solidarity.”
Trump’s executive order bars people with passports from Libya, Somalia and Sudan — all African nations — from entering the U.S. Additionally, the ban blocks visas for citizens from the Middle Eastern countries of Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran, with a 120-day ban on refugee programs.
From The Independent:
Also speaking in Ethiopia, the UN Secretary General commended African countries for opening their borders to refugees and people fleeing violence while other parts of the world, including the developed West, close boundaries and build walls.
“African nations are among the world’s largest and most generous hosts of refugees,” UN Chief Antonio Guterres, who was also attending the summit, said.
“African borders remain open for those in need of protection when so many borders are being closed, even in the most developed countries in the world.”
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