Oscar-Nominated Director Can’t Attend Ceremony Because of Trump’s Extreme New ‘Muslim Ban’

The Academy Awards stands by Iranian Oscar nominee Asghar Farhadi in face of ‘extremely troubling’ Trump travel ban.

Tehran, 01 Jumadil Awwal 1438/29 January 2017 (MINA) – An Oscar-nominated director may not be able to attend the ceremony because of Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’.

The US President signed an executive order banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country for three months. One of these countries is Iran.

The disturbing new measure is going to prevent Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, whose movie “The Salesman” has been nominated for best foreign language film, from being able to go to the Oscars on February 26.

The film’s lead actress, Taraneh Alidoosti, had already announced that she would boycott the ceremony in protest of Trump’s immigration policies, metro.co.uk reported.

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As well as Iranians, Trump has banned citizens of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya from entering the US for 90 days.

And although it was only signed yesterday, there have already been reports of US residents with ‘green cards’ being left stranded at airports abroad.

The President claims that by implementing these sudden and extreme measures against people from these countries, he will ‘keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US’.

But many have since pointed out that his ban doesn’t extend to Muslim-majority countries with which he has business ties.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and the UAE are all exempt from the ban – where the Trump Organisation has either done business or pursued potential deals.

Also Read: Visa Issuance to Resume after 90 Days, No "Muslim Ban," Trump says

Hitting the US’s tech industry

And although the order was only signed yesterday, the ban is already hitting the US’s tech industry hard.

Google has recalled around 100 employees who are currently travelling, and told the BBC it was ‘concerned’ about the order and any other measures that could block talent from the US.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has warned its shareholders that these new measures could seriously impact its business.

American tech companies rely on highly-skilled staff from all over the world, bringing them to its California HQ on special H1-B visas.
The new measures may force them to reconsider the location of their HQs.

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Trump’s order also closed the border, with immediate effect, to all incoming refugees from these countries – leaving people stranded at airports with nowhere to go.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is now warning citizens of the seven affected countries who are living in the US to stay in the country and not go abroad.

‘The EO [Executive Order] demonstrates the Trump Administration’s clear agenda to criminalise all immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and persons of Arab ancestry and/or of the Islamic faith,’ an ADC statement says.

‘The Trump Administration is manipulating current immigration mechanisms to authorise mass blanket discrimination against entire populations based on national origin, religion and/or ethnicity.’ (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)