Turnbull: refugee swap not affected by US travel ban

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says President Trump's latest executive order won't impact Australia's already agreed upon refugee resettlement deal.

Trump & Turnbull

Trump and Turnbull. Source: Trump & Turnbull

The US' revision of its travel ban won't impact Australia's deal to resettle asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru, according to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

"[President Trump] has agreed to honour, continue with, the arrangements entered into with his predecessor," Mr Turnbull said while in Indonesia for trade talks.


The US President issued a revised executive order, suspending the US' refugee program for 120 days, and banned tourist, immigration and most entries from six other countries for a 90-day period.

The predominately Muslim countries include Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, which were included in the original ban back in January. Iraq was removed from the list.



A proposed temporary ban on Muslims was flagged by President Trump during his campaign last year, with the original suspension put in place to head off attacks by Islamist militants.

"The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of Muslims in Australia are utterly appalled by extremism, by violent extremism, by terrorism," Prime Minister Turnbull said of the ban.

Mr Turnbull pointed to Indonesia, the largest majority Muslim country as an example that “Islam, democracy and moderation are compatible”.  

"Tolerance and mutual respect operate hand in hand and it is a great example to the world,” he said.



“The vast majority of Australian Muslims are patriotic, hard-working, seeking to get ahead, committed to peacefully living in Australia and abiding by our laws.”

Mr Turnbull slammed comments made by One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson, in an interview to Channel Nine on Monday night, in which she suggested “good Muslims” were hard to spot.

“Trying to demonise all Muslims is only confirming the lying, dangerous message of the terrorists. It is a very important,” Mr Turnbull said.


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Published 7 March 2017 1:04pm
Updated 7 March 2017 3:10pm
By David Sharaz


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