Opposition leaders protest against US travel ban

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 50 supporters and leaders of opposition parties staged a protest in front of the US Embassy against the immigration ban by the US government.
The group of people started to gather in front of the embassy at around 2.40pm while chanting slogans against the ban, before the police told the crowd to disperse an hour later.
Among opposition leaders present were Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamed Sabu who is also fondly known as Mat Sabu, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua and PKR youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Representatives of Pakatan Harapan, led by Mat Sabu, also submitted a memorandum to an embassy official, which detailed their dissatisfaction on the immigration ban and called for US President Donald Trump to retract the order.
Earlier in his speech, Mat Sabu said the foundation of the US, known for its liberalism and democracy, has been destroyed by Trump when he signed the executive order to ban travel from seven countries.
"We have no problem if the US government wants to restrict the entrance of militant suspects, but this (the ban) is not a question of militancy but human rights," he said, adding that the order might be expanded to include other countries into the list.
He also called for the government, particularly Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, to state the stance of Malaysia on the immigration ban.
"The government has been quiet despite the fact that the seven countries are members of the OIC (Oganisation of Islamic Cooperation). Why is Najib remaining silent?" he said.
Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said that Trump had directly fell into the narrative of global terrorist group Islamic State (IS) by enacting the ban.
"The executive order gives the extra bullets to IS. It gives extra reason for people to be radicalised and that is why we want this to stop. We are against the executive order," he said.
Trump signed an executive order banning travel from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and Somalia on Jan 27 for 90 days while suspending all refugee admissions for 120 days.
The ban has been widely condemned as Islamophobic and has affected scores from the affected countries, including those who have had their visas previously approved and permanent US residents.
Travellers from the countries have been detained in airports in the US and reportedly interrogated for hours while some have even been sent back to the country they were traveling from.