Diakonia Council of Churches appalled by travel ban

THE Diakonia Council of Churches says it is appalled by the travel ban imposed by US President Donald Trump on citizens from seven majority Muslim countries. The council said the reasons for the travel ban are short-sighted and ill-informed by facts.

The statement comes after the Human Rights Watch issued a report in which the numbers of Americans killed by other humans is listed, using a 10-year average. According to the report, the total killed by Islamic Jihadist immigrants; far right-wing terrorists; and all Islamic Jihadist Terrorists (including US citizens) is 16. The total killed by being shot by another American is 11,737, plus 21 killed by armed toddlers.

Reverend Ian Booth, chairperson of Diakonia Council of Churches said: “The President is targeting the wrong risk to American lives, and should, but won’t, target gun ownership and the irresponsible use of firearms within the US. Instead, he has focused on what appears to be an easy target group, and has contradicted the words written for the Statue of Liberty, from which his ancestors benefitted as immigrants.

“We are deeply concerned by the swing to the right, fed by fear of the ‘other’, that has occurred in the US. The source of our fear is not so much in the leader himself, frightening as his stance may be, but in what and who he represents – people who think like that in his country. We would rather see a focus on building human community across the globe than a retreat into laagers and taking on imagined threats while ignoring the real threats which lurk within the US from among their own,” added the Reverend.

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