The United States House of Representatives has voted to tighten controls on visas for foreigners travelling to the US. After the attacks in Paris and the mass shooting in southern California, legislators overwhelming passed a bill, by a margin of 407 to 19, that introduces new visa requirements for citizens of Iraq and Syria. The legislation also adds additional screening for citizens of the 38 countries that have a visa waiver with the United States who have travelled to Iraq, Syria, Iran and Sudan in the past five years.
These legal moves are small when taken in isolation. Given the incendiary remarks by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump this week calling for Muslims to be banned indefinitely from travelling to the United States, the visa changes must be seen in a much more critical light. The United States has every right to take steps to protect its citizens given the recent uptick in global extremism, but striking a balance between the protection of citizens and the violation of rights is a delicate one.
Washington must not fall down the slippery slope that unjustly targets one religious or ethnic group with racist laws and requirements. That Mr Trump continues to speak to a base of supporters who believe the banning of one group from the country is a just idea, underlines just how dangerous popular sentiment is and the need for excess caution when passing laws. What is needed, not just in Washington but across the world, is a commitment to cooperation and unity in the face of extremism.
The Sawab Centre in Abu Dhabi launched a campaign on Twitter yesterday with the hashtag #OurNation_OurPride. The centre, which is a joint project between the UAE and the United States, aims to discredit ISIL’s outlandish claims that it represents Islam. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that the world is seeing the brutality of ISIL’s practices and that the extremist group had no respect for civilisation. The centre is an example of just the cooperation we desperately need now. Division and the singling out of one religious group over another will only play into the hands of the extremists.
