President Donald Trump has suspended entry into the US for citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan. PHOTO/CNN
(CNN)Trump’s executive order on immigration bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.
But what’s life like for people in those seven nations? For many, conflict, human rights abuses and long-term unemployment are the norm, and are reasons to flee or try to immigrate. How the Trump administration chose the 7 countries.
Here are snapshots of the situation in each country:
Syria
There is perhaps no country in the world today as desperate as war-torn Syria. Millions have been affected by the conflict that has raged for nearly six years, with an estimated 400,000 people killed. Many of the displaced are now hanging onto life by a thread, braving freezing temperatures in makeshift shelters with little food and clothing to get by.
The brutal conflict has triggered an exodus of refugees from Syria, most of them heading for Europe. The Obama administration had set a goal of accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees last year, which it had done by August.
The Syrian conflict broke out in 2011 with the Arab Spring uprising, but rebel groups’ attempts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s regime have been fruitless. The conflict has allowed ISIS to flourish, with the militant group taking control of Syria’s city of Raqqa as its capital, taking control of a belt across the country and into Iraq.
Stephen O’Brien (centre), Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, arrives in the Security Council Chamber to brief the Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
A US-led international coalition has carried out airstrikes in the country against ISIS, but the Syrian regime and its most powerful ally, Russia, have also pounded parts of the nation from the air, reducing areas like eastern Aleppo to rubble. Civilians there have lived under bombardment for years.
Life is also grim for many living under ISIS rule. Women complain they are forced to wear burqas. People are forbidden from smoking, and men are forced to grow their facial hair, while access to the rest of the world through television, the internet and mobile phones are largely cut off.
Now as a ceasefire deal is being hammered out, Syrians are nervously watching to see what will come next for their country.
Is the ban legal?
Read More:http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/trump-travel-ban-countries/
