Mo Farah tells of 'relief' as US reveals Brits with dual nationality will be EXEMPT from controversial 'Muslim ban' but defiant Trump refuses to back down on controversial policy
- President Trump has issued a 90-day ban on people entering from 7 countries
- Sir Mo was born in Somalia, one of countries on list and is training in Ethiopia
- Feared being barred from re-entering US, where he and family live in Oregon
- Travel chaos across the world and one UK citizen was stranded in Costa Rica
- Iraqi-born Tory MP for Stratford Nadhim Zahawi can't visit his son living in US
- But President is defiant and described situation in Europe as 'horrible mess'
- His order has sparked protests across the US with more planned in the UK
- Foreign Office confirmed Brits with dual nationalities could enter the US
Sir Mo Farah has taken aim at Donald Trump's immigration crackdown over fears it would ban him from returning home to his wife and daughters who live in the US.
The President signed an executive order on Friday which prevents any citizen of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for 90 days.
One of those countries is Somalia, the birthplace of Britain's most successful athlete who won double Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. Currently training in Ethiopia, he lives with his family in Oregon.
But the Foreign Office confirmed tonight that Britons with dual nationalities will not be stopped from entering the US unless they travel directly from one of the seven countries.
A spokesman for Sir Mo said he was 'relieved' that he will be able to return to his family.
It came as the President was defiant in the face of widespread criticism and reiterated his belief that America needs to strengthen its borders, despite protests being held against the ban across the US.
Taking to Twitter earlier today he said Christians 'had been executed in the Middle East in large numbers' and added the immigration situation in Europe 'was a horrible mess'.
Mo and his wife along with their four children, are based in Oregon and he shared this picture after their family holiday in Hawaii
Mo Farah tweeted about his training from Ethiopia a week ago. He has now criticised the ban that could prevent him from returning home
But the President's response has not stopped the wave of condemnation of the ban, led by one of Britain's greatest Olympic heroes.
Sir Mo wrote on Facebook: 'On 1st January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27th January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.
'I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years - working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home.
'Now, me and many others like me are being told that we may not be welcome. It's deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children that Daddy might not be able to come home - to explain why the President has introduced a policy that comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice.'
'I was welcomed into Britain from Somalia at eight years old and given the chance to succeed and realise my dreams. I have been proud to represent my country, win medals for the British people and receive the greatest honour of a knighthood.
'My story is an example of what can happen when you follow polices of compassion and understanding, not hate and isolation.'
But President Trump, pictured in the White House, has remained defiant in the face of widespread criticism
Taking to Twitter earlier today, he claimed Christians were 'being executed' in the Middle East
The President reiterated a 'need for strong borders' and said the immigration situation in Europe 'was a horrible mess'
At the time of the post, Sir Mo said he did not know if the ban applied to him because even though he was born in Somalia, he now only holds a British passport.
Due to return home in a few weeks, he was seeking to clarify the situation with the US authorities before the Foreign Office confirmed its position.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has spent the day speaking to the President's senior adviser Jared Kushner and chief strategist Stephen Bannon about the implications of immigration curbs.
His officials later issued guidance about what the border clampdown means for the UK.
The statement said:
- The ban only applies to individuals travelling from one of the seven named countries - Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
- Travellers to the US from anywhere other than one of those countries will experience no extra checks regardless of nationality or place of birth.
- UK nationals travelling from one of those countries are not included in the ban even if they were born in one of the affected states.
- Dual citizens from one of the seven countries travelling to the US from outside those countries are not affected.
- Dual nationals might have extra checks if they travel directly from one of the seven countries.
The sudden ban affected dozens of other British residents, many of whom were trapped in transit, initially unable to fly to the US.
Airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are offering refunds to customers whose travel plans have been ruined.
With protests being set up in states across the US, more have been planned for the UK tomorrow, including one outside Downing Street at 6pm on Monday.
Others are planned for Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Cambridge and Birmingham.
World Bank economist Jaffar Al-Rikabi (left) is banned from the US and Iranian-born physics student Naz Jahanshahi (right) fears she'll have to cancel her holiday there
Iranian-born physics student Naz Jahanshahi (pictured on a previous holiday in the US) was devastated to learn that she may have to cancel a trip to the US with her boyfriend
One woman affected was Hamaseh Tayari, a UK resident with an Iranian passport, who was stranded in Costa Rica after being denied access to a flight home to Glasgow because it was due to stop-over in New York.
The distraught vet, who was on holiday with her boyfriend, said: 'This has shocked me. We just discovered [what Trump did] at the airport when we went to check in.
'I want people to know this isn't just happening to refugees. I am a graduate and have a PhD. It has happened to a person who is working and pays tax.'
Ms Tayari has found a different route home and will shortly return to Glasgow.
She said: 'We had been saving for months for this holiday and it will cost me a month's salary just to get home'.
Ms Tayari has since thanked those who raised thousands of pounds for her to get a flight back to Scotland.
More than £6,000 has been raised through a crowdfunding page set up by Kathleen Caskie from the Women for Independence organisation to cover the cost of alternative flights via Madrid.
Women For Independence said the £2,600 needed had been passed to Ms Tayari, with the remainder of donations going to the Scottish Refugee Council.
On Twitter, the organisation said: 'Hamaseh has sent this message; I would like to say thanks somehow to all of you and the people that contributed! Thanks to get us back at home. Safe and sound and in peace!'
Ms Tayari, who grew up in Italy, is a postgraduate veterinary student at the University of Glasgow.
It is hoped she will be able to return to Scotland on Tuesday.
Hamaseh Tayari (left and right), a UK resident with an Iranian passport, is banned from the US
The vet's university helped her get back to the UK using a different route
A spokesman for the university said: 'We were extremely concerned at the difficulties which one of our postgraduate students encountered on trying to return to the UK via the United States after holidaying in Costa Rica.
'We have been in touch with Hamaseh, who has made arrangements to get back to Glasgow via an alternative route. The university will do all that we can to support her.'
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The Scottish Government is closely monitoring the situation and we have made contact with the UK Government to raise the case.
'We stand ready to offer whatever assistance we can to Ms Tayari or her family at this difficult time.'
Iranian-born physics student Naz Jahanshahi, from Manchester, said she was devastated at the possibility of cancelling a trip to the US with her boyfriend.
Nina Davidson who has lived in Britain for 33 years fears her family will have to cancel a 'holiday of a lifetime' in Florida because she was born in Iran
The 21-year-old wrote on Facebook: 'Words cannot describe how angry, upset and shocked I am right now. After Trump's recent ban on people from 'Muslim' countries it's turned out that because I am classified as a British Citizen and travelled to Iran 3 years ago to see family, that I am denied entry into the US.
'This means that the trip me and Matt were planning to see the total solar eclipse in America may have to be cancelled.'
She told MailOnline: 'It's just upsetting that in today's world this level of discrimination is happening.
'My situation is nothing compared to those that are being detained or stuck abroad unable to go home but the reality of it is that people are being judged for where they were born'.
Another Briton affected was World Bank economist Jaffar Al-Rikabi.
He wrote on Facebook: 'I am an Economist at the World Bank (based in Jakarta), and will not apparently be able to join my fellow colleagues at our MFM training week in Washington DC in March.
Iraqi born MP Nadhim Zahawi told the BBC today that Mrs May must stand up to President Trump and not 'look away'
'Why? Because, I'm a dual British-Iraqi national and hence President Trump's recent executive order bans me from flying to the US. Allegedly, I am a threat to US national security.'
He savaged Trump's policy because it assumes that 'if you are linked to "a list of Muslim-majority" countries, you are presumed guilty, until proven otherwise.'
And Nina Davidson, who has lived in Britain for 33 years, feared her family would have to cancel a 'holiday of a lifetime' in Florida because she was born in Iran.
Mr Davidson, 46, said: 'We’re all British citizens, we’ve all got British passports, it just so happens that my wife was born in Iran.
‘We didn’t sleep last night trying to keep up with the news. My only thought was, “how do I break it to my kids in the morning?” '
Iraqi-born Nadhim Zahawi, Tory MP for Stratford-on-Avon, also believed he would be banned from the US.
He told the BBC: '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.'
Until the Foreign Office clarified the situation, he feared it meant he could not visit his sons who are studying at Princeton University in New Jersey.
He last year travelled there to visit one affected by a life-threatening illness but is now unable to make the trip.
He said: 'One of my sons had a life-threatening illness last year, spent time in a hospital in Princeton, wonderful healthcare in Princeton University hospital but we couldn't have travelled if we were going through the same thing now.
'There are many other human stories – the community in the UK. There are hundreds of thousands of people who were born in Iraq who are now British citizens. I always thought we were equal.
'I'm proud Stratford upon Avon, 98 per cent white, voted in Nadhim Zahawi, the son of immigrants, an immigrant to this country as a member of parliament. I hope he'll reconsider this.'
Mr Zahawi urged action from Theresa May, saying 'I don't think we should look away when President Trump makes a mistake.'
BBC World Service reporter Ali Hamedani has been tweeting after arriving by plane in Chicago, and said he had been taken to a waiting room while his 'passport was taken away'.
He said he was in the room with an Iranian woman who has both an Iranian passport and a green card.
Iranian-born Mr Hamedani wrote on Twitter: 'The border offices has not mentioned anything just invited me to a waiting room and took away my passport. Waiting...'
In an update two hours later he tweeted he was 'let in' after immigration officers interviewed him, checked his bag and looked at his laptop.
He added he was told to 'come back anytime'.
British basketball star Luol Deng, who was born in Sudan and holds both passports, also faced being affected by the ban.
BBC World Service reporter Ali Hamedani tweeted from an airport in Chicago that he had been taken to a waiting room and had his passport taken away
The ban may also affect British basketball star Luol Deng, who was born in Sudan and holds both passports
The Los Angeles Lakers forward was not stranded out of the US as he managed to fly back after playing the Toronto Raptors in Canada before the ban kicked in.
Latest figures show that more than 250,000 people who were born in Iraq, Iran and Somalia have dual British nationality.
No figures are available for those born in Syria, Libya, Sudan or Yemen.
The order has brought scathing criticism from a host of British MPs, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who called it 'divisive and wrong.'
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked Theresa May for not doing enough to criticise Trump and said he wanted the US leader banned from addressing Parliament when he visits Britain in the summer.
He tweeted a picture of May and Trump, writing 'hand in hand with the man who banned Mo Farah & Tory MP. Yet she remains silent.'
After an appearance on ITV's Peston on Sunday he said: 'Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees' and women's rights.
'Theresa May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump's actions in the clearest terms. That's what Britain expects and deserves.'
No10 insists the state visit will go ahead as planned while Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he would boycott the event.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on ITV's Peston On Sunday) attacked Theresa May for not doing enough to criticise Trump
Corbyn tweeted a picture of May and Trump, writing 'hand in hand with the man who banned Mo Farah & Tory MP. Yet she remains silent.'
Even a Tory MP, Sarah Wollaston, agreed with Jeremy Corbyn when she said Mr Trump should be barred from making the usual address to Parliament.
Theresa May was forced to make a dramatic U-turn to condemn Mr Trump's ban after she refused three times to criticise the move on Saturday.
Downing Street issued a statement saying Mrs May does 'not agree' with the ban.
She has ordered foreign secretary Boris Johnson and home secretary Amber Rudd to telephone their American counterparts to make representations about the US travel ban.
Mr Johnson will ask two of Trump's most senior advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner for British citizens to be exempt from the ban in the same way that Canadian passport holders have.
The Muslim Council of Britain has issued a statement condemning Mr Trump's policy.
Harun Khan, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: 'This ban on Muslims is not only an inconvenience, it is downright dangerous to our values of equality and non-discrimination. And yet, our Prime Minister has found it hard to express these values when representing us on the world stage.'
Iraqi born MP Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on Avon, revealed the ban applies to him
In a sign of the anger against and Tory MP Heidi Allen tweeted directly at Mrs May saying: 'Strong leadership means not being afraid to tell someone powerful when they're wrong. It's an ethos this country is proud of'
'We are told that British values include the rule of law and ‘mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.'
Thousands of demonstrators are planning to protest against the ban outside Downing Street and across the country on Monday from 6pm.
Protests are listed to take place in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Cambridge and Birmingham.
A march organised by a coalition of groups, including Stand Up to Racism and the Muslim Council of Britain, is due to begin at the US embassy next Saturday, ending at Downing Street.
And the Iraqi government is said to be considering a reciprocal ban on US citizens entering Iraq.
Trump also took aim at the New York Times today, which featured a story about the protests against Trump at airports across the country.
'Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!'
Mr Trump's 90-day visa moratorium extends beyond just citizens of Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Libya and Yemen.
It also applies to people who originally hail from those countries but are traveling on a passport issued by any other nation.
This means Iraqis seeking to enter the U.S. on a British passport, for instance, will be barred. British citizens don't normally require a visa to enter the U.S.
Sir Mo is originally from Somalia, one of the countries on Donald Trump's list. People originally from the banned countries cannot enter even if they are travelling on another passport
A State Department statement read: 'Travelers who have nationality or dual nationality of one of these countries will not be permitted for 90 days to enter the United States or be issued an immigrant or non-immigrant visa,' the statement said.
'Those nationals or dual nationals holding valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas will not be permitted to enter the United States during this period. Visa interviews will generally not be scheduled for nationals of these countries during this period.'
Donald Trump defended his tough new immigration policy, and denied that his executive order was a Muslim ban.
He wrote on Twitter: 'Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!'
Mr Trump was backed by former Ukip leader Nigel Farage who said he supports the travel ban and calls for the UK to do something similar.
He said: 'In this country I would like to see extreme vetting ... This is what Trump’s supporters want him to do.'
Meanwhile, an Iranian-born actress who stars in Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman vowed to boycott the Oscars over Trump's immigration bans.
Taraneh Alidoosti, the 33-year-old known as the Natalie Portman of Iran, took to Twitter with a message for fans on Thursday.
'Trump's visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won't attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest,' she tweeted.
Iraqi-born Farhadi won an Oscar in 2012 for his film A Separation but fears he may not be able to attend this year's ceremony where he could win again.
Mo Farah with his wife Tania, their twin daughters and his older daughter in 2014. They now live in Oregon but it is thought he is in Ethiopia at the moment
Award-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who is nominated for an Oscar for his film The Salesman, won't be able to attend after Donald Trump introduced tough new immigration bans
On Saturday seven refugees bound for the U.S. were stopped from boarding a plane in Cairo and 12 migrants were detained in New York overnight because they arrived just after the executive order was signed.
Hameed Khalid Darweesh, one of the Iraqi refugees who was detained for 14 hours at New York, was released on Saturday afternoon.
The 53-year-old had arrived in America on a flight from Istanbul on Friday night, just hours after Trump implemented the immigration ban.
He had worked for the US government in Iraq for 10 years as a translator, engineer and contractor and had a valid special immigration visa to relocate to America.
The dual-citizenship ban doesn't apply to US citizens who are also citizens of the seven nations singled out by Mr. Trump.
The State Department statement also said such restrictions don't apply to people from those countries traveling on diplomatic visas.
The official said that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the U.S. consulate in Erbil have stopped accepting visa applications from Iraqi nationals until further notice, except for certain diplomatic exceptions.
The urgent steps come as State Department officials try to sort out how to implement Mr Trump's broadly-worded executive order. Officials said they received little information about the ban before it took effect from the Trump team.
One described how a draft of the order was brought in unofficially to the State Department earlier this week to review before it took effect.
At a press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Theresa May repeatedly refused to criticise President Trump's executive order.
She said in Ankara: 'The United States is responsible for the United States' policy on refugees. The United Kingdom is responsible for the United Kingdom's policy on refugees.
'And our policy on refugees is to have a number of voluntary schemes to bring Syrian refugees into the country, particularly those who are most vulnerable but also to provide significant financial contributions to support refugees in countries surrounding Syria.'
On Saturday evening, a Downing St spokesman said Theresa May does 'not agree' with Donald Trump's refugee ban and will make representations if it hits Britons.
Mrs May met with Donald Trump at the White House and the pair were snapped holding hands as they walked the colonnade
She then went to Turkey where she batted away questions about Trump's order, even though her Turkish counterpart criticised him
However just yards away from her, Prime Minister Yildirim was putting the boot in, saying building walls would not help the refugee crisis.
He said: 'We cannot solve this refugee problem by putting up walls.
'We opened our doors, and if they come again, we would take them again.
'Regional problems cannot be solved by sweeping them under the carpet.'
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: 'British citizens banned from the US and our government has nothing to say? Disgrace.'
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: 'Not only is this shocking even by her standards, it cannot be allowed to stand. The President's actions have horrified the world, and this is a moment when she has to show what side she is on.
'At the press conference she contrived to make the Turkish government look liberal.
'They said it was wrong to build walls. Rather than fighting to build a world that is open, tolerant and united, Theresa May is dividing the world in a very dangerous way.'
Trump's order declares that U.S. policy is 'to protect its citizens from foreign nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks in the United States; and to prevent the admission of foreign nationals who intend to exploit United States immigration laws for malevolent purposes.'
It also gives Homeland Security 60 days to begin providing the president with the names of other countries to add to the list.
The nation will limit the total refugee resettlement numbers to 50,000 per year, according to the order.
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