STRATFORD’s Iraqi-born MP will be allowed to travel to the United States despite President Trump’s hugely controversial new travel ban.
After a busy first week in The White House, Donald Trump unsettled people across the world by signing an executive order banning people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from travelling to America in a bid designed to crackdown on Islamic extremists entering the US.
Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi took to Twitter to express his saddness, writing: ‘I’m a British citizen and so proud to have been welcomed to this country. Sad to hear I’ll be banned from the USA based on my country of birth.’
The Tory MP and his wife were both born in Iraq and despite having British citizenship, it appeared they would not be allowed to go to America where their sons are both at University.
Speaking on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, he said: “I don’t think I have felt discriminated since little school when the kids were very cruel, as a young boy coming from Iraq of Kurdish origin.
“For the first time in my life last night I felt discriminated against, it’s demeaning, it’s sad.”
The Foreign Office have confirmed the ban will only apply to British dual nationality citizens flying directly from the seven countries listed in the ban.
Mr Zahawi added: “I was very concerned to hear that my wife and I may have been impacted by President Trumps illogical banning order.
“I commend the Government and the FCO for working to seek this very important clarification and assurance for British Citizens. Many Brits will feel better because of their work.
“However, I still believe that a policy to exclude genuine refugees fleeing persecution from countries like Syria is a mistake and runs counter to the values and freedoms of a great country like the United States of America.”
And Olympic distance runner Sir Mo Farah also spoke out against the ban, fearing he would not be able return to his family home in Portland, Oregon.
Born in Somalia, the four times Olympic gold medalist is training at high altitude in Ethiopia ahead of a race in Birmingham, before returning to his wife and four children in America in March.
