A petition to ban the newly elected President Trump’s state visit to the UK has reached just under 1.7 million signatures, following opposition to the imposition of a travel ban preventing citizens of seven muslim countries entering the U.S.
The petition, which came into circulation across the weekend, has rapidly gained traction as opposition to President Trump’s first few acts in office mounts. If a petition reaches 100,000, the UK parliament is obliged to debate the matter, as it is deemed of national interest.
Since President Trump’s inauguration, he has made several controversial decisions that include halting overseas contraceptive funding for abortions, reconfirming his commitment to building a wall across the US-Mexico border and most recently a total ban on seven majority Muslim countries from entering the United States. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was fired by the executive over her failure to support the controversial measure.
These countries include Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Libya, Yemen and Iraq. However, somewhat paradoxically the ban does not include any of the nationalities that have been linked to 9/11 terrorist activities including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. In addition to this measure, the U.S refugee system has been suspended for 120 days, to aid “extreme vetting” systems.
This follows Prime Minister May’s visit to Washington to meet with the newly elected 45th President of the United States to discuss further security cooperation and a potential trade agreement.
In response to the growing uproar and petition, a Downing Street representative told the BBC that an invitation had been “issued and accepted” and rescinding the invite would “undo everything” following Mrs May’s visit.
“America is a huge important ally. We have to think long term,” the representative continued.
Conversely, German Chancellor Angela Merkel openly expressed her concern over the extreme measures in a phone call to Mr Trump, to whom she reportedly explained the Geneva Convention, which under international law obliges all states to protect refugees.
“The chancellor regrets the US government’s entry ban against refugees and the citizens of certain countries,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said in an official statement.
“She is convinced that the necessary, decisive battle against terrorism does not justify a general suspicion against people of a certain origin or a certain religion.
A date for the proposed Trump state visit to the United Kingdom has yet to be finalised. A debate on the petition is set to take place in Parliament next month.