No Ban No Wall: Auckland Protest Against US Racist Immigration Policies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7th Feb 2017

Aotearoa Against Muslim Ban condemns the racist and Islamophobic immigration bans ordered by the US President Trump. A protest rally has been organised for the 7th of February, 6pm at Aotea Square in solidarity with those affected by President Trump’s executive orders to implement a 90 day ban on people from seven Muslim majority countries and 120 day ban on all refugees, with an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. More than 2000 are expected to attend the rally at Aotea Sq.

“These border policies are racist, Islamophobic and unacceptable. They continue a pattern of white supremacist immigration exclusion in colonial settler countries like the United States. Bill English refusing to call it for what it is - racist - is a dangerously weak response and doesn’t represent the people of Aotearoa” says Mehwish, one of the organisers of the “No Ban, No Wall” protest.

“Globally, there is an increase in Islamophobia that marginalises and advocates violence against Muslim communities. Singling out Muslims and people from specific Muslim-majority countries is a scary step towards fascism,” says Fahad, another organiser of the protest.

“We should not see the executive orders in isolation. Deportations and immigration restrictions have been in place for years. Rather than seeing Trump as an exception to the rule, we need to question the political and systematic racism that treats minorities, people of colour and immigrants as the 'dangerous others,'” says Nisha, another organiser of the protest.

“While this protest focuses on the latest immigration bans in the US, we also need to acknowledge the long history of racist exclusion and legislations within Aotearoa and the South Pacific region,” they continue.

Aotearoa Against Muslim Ban recognises the place foreign policy of powerful countries such as the USA has in creating the dangers and fears that have forced many of these people to leave their countries in the first place. The nature of being a refugee means their leaving has not been a matter of choice, but has been a matter of necessity.

“If the US economy was not dependent on military infrastructure and arms trade then there would be little incentive to engage in wars in the Middle East. Many of those fleeing these named ‘Muslim’ countries could safely stay in their homes. It should also be noted that Trump has been able to push through these policies due to fears conjured up of ‘terrorism’. Yet those who have enacted terrorist attacks on US soil thus far have not come from the seven countries he names under the ‘Muslim’ ban,” says Mehwish.

Aotearoa Against Muslim ban calls for the NZ government to increase the refugee quota, oppose and divest from wars in the Middle East, provide adequate resources for migrant and refugee communities and explicitly condemn these racist and Islamophobic immigration bans.

ENDS

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