THE HERALD FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3 2017
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5 News Muslim ban
they are not now eligible to travel. Now they are sitting in the airport, homeless, with no money and no idea what to do. The father said that Eman spent much of yesterday in tears as he struggled to explain as best he could. She can’t really understand, he told me. She asked: ‘Why only Yemenis? Why only us? Why only me?’”
REFUGEES WELCOME HERE
“What is happening in America is Young protesters: #DumpTrump
go against the very values of freedom and tolerance for which the US is renowned. It is divisive and wrong to stigmatise people of a particular origin or particular faith, putting them under general suspicion for no good reason whatsoever, in particular, when they are suffering through no fault of their own. May should immediately rescind the invitation to welcome Trump on a state visit to the UK with all the pomp and ceremony that this entails. This is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a foreign dignitary: we should reserve this privilege for truly great people. She has a responsibility to stand up for the values and responsibilities that we hold dear in the UK.” Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas
condemned the US President’s ban on Muslim travel in a motion tabled at the National Assembly on Tuesday (Jan 31). “It was pleasing to see so many people engaged online and protesting on the streets on this international issue. Wales has a long history of speaking out on international affairs. “This issue will impact on Welsh
citizens of dual nationality. People have been contacting Assembly Members and their MPs to express their dismay about US President Trump’s executive order. The 90 day travel ban by the USA President on nationals from several majority-Muslim countries is unconstitutional, unethical, discriminatory and ineffective. We hope the Welsh Government will speak out against the ban on the movement of Muslims from specific countries into the USA. “Plaid Cymru rejects this
discrimination. We value all citizens of Wales, regardless of religion or background and we will all stand together to protect and defend each other.”
REFUGEES FLEEING FROM TERROR, NOT CAUSING IT
Addressing protesters in
Aberystwyth, Aberaid’s Lindsey Gaunt spoke passionately about the issues:
Refugees welcome: Children at the protest displaying their placards (Pic. Marian Delyth)
“Refugees are fleeing from terror, not causing it! They are running from the bombs, the violence, the starvation and the suffering that is being inflicted on their countries and caused in part by the legacy and the foreign policies of the west. Refugees are, by definition, people seeking sanctuary from some of the most horrific circumstances, and it is the duty of compassionate and progressive nations to accept their fair share.” Lindsey Gaunt narrated the story
of Eman, a little girl from Yemen, ‘a country that has been heavily bombed for the past two years by a Saudi-led coalition supported by America and armed by our own UK Government’. “This little girl was sat waiting
with her father to get on their flight from Djibouti to the US. They had spent all their savings of $2,000 on the flight tickets and they had been waiting for nearly three years to obtain the permits and paperwork to allow them to reunite with their family, Eman’s mother and sister. Suddenly, they were told, at the last possible minute, that
also a reflection of what is happening in our own country,” Lindsey Gaunt continued. “The politics of fear, of racism and of Islamophobia is sadly growing all around us. We are seeing the cruel manipulation of race and religion as a tool to divide us, to stop us from coming together and celebrating our shared humanity. We are being manipulated by our media and by some political parties - being asked to blame the innocent victims of war and terror, being encouraged to hate and fear people, to see them as somehow ‘other’; to close our hearts, to only worry about ourselves, to ignore the suffering and poverty of our neighbours and the people we are sharing the world with. “Let us all stand together tonight
and say loudly and proudly that we in Aberystwyth, in Wales, and in the UK say that refugees are welcome here. And that we will not turn our backs on those who are suffering cold, hunger, violence, persecution and war. And we will continue to have our voices heard, and we will continue to make our own government listen to us. We will not close our doors or our hearts to refugees; you are welcome here and we will continue to fight for you with every last bit of strength that we have!”
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