Muslim immigration ban

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A Muslim immigration ban is a ban, either absolute or from specific nations, on the immigration of Muslims to a specific nation.

Contents

Background

Opposition to immigration from Muslim countries, Muslims, or people with Islamic backgrounds, has been found in many countries throughout the centuries, and has been closely tied with the geopolitics of the Old World and the Middle East, or with religious nationalism and ethnic nationalism. [1] [2] [3] An early example of a Muslim immigration ban in the New World was a restriction against the importation of Africans into the Americas by the English and Spanish colonialists. [4]

Reasons for advocating a ban on "Muslim immigration" can vary from being a side-effect of ethnonationalism to voicing concerns over national security, or for the safety of citizens from vulnerable backgrounds (such as POC, women and LGBTQ). [5] [6] Particular minority groups in western countries such as Jews and Non-Muslim South Asians may feel threatened by an influx of immigrants from Muslim countries due to a tradition of inter-ethnic conflict and racism. [7] [8]

United States

U.S. President Donald Trump signing the order at the Pentagon, with Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis in 2017 Trump signing order January 27.jpg
U.S. President Donald Trump signing the order at the Pentagon, with Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis in 2017

On December 7, 2015, presidential candidate Donald Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on." [9] [10] The Muslim immigration ban has been seen as a result of the influence of the counter-jihad movement. [11] [12]

As President, Trump signed Executive Order 13769 on January 27, 2017, the first travel ban, which "suspended for 90 days the entry of certain aliens from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen." [13] [14] Further executive orders and presidential proclamations removed some of these countries and added others, including non-Muslim majority countries. [13] [15] [14] [16]

Formerly, the Naturalization Act of 1790 did not restrict immigration of Muslims, but indirectly prevented Muslim immigrants from obtaining citizenship, which was limited to any "free white person". Whiteness was associated with Christianity by the American courts, until the decision Ex Parte Mohriez recognized citizenship for a Saudi Muslim man in 1944. [17]

Australia

A 2016 poll found that half of all Australians wanted to ban Muslim immigration, with 49% of Australians supporting a ban. [18] [19] [20] In a 2017 poll of 2,000 people, 48% backed a ban, 27% were undecided, and a quarter opposed it. [21]

In 2017, Senator and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson after the London terror attack called for a Muslim immigration ban, saying "do not pray for London, pray for Muslim ban". This came one year after her maiden speech called for the same Ban. [22] [23] [24] [25]

In 2018, Senator Fraser Anning during his maiden speech called for a plebiscite to reintroduce the White Australia policy, especially with regard to excluding Muslims. [26] [27] [28]

India

Opposition to Muslim immigration can be traced back to the defence of Non-Muslim South Asian empires from Arab or Persian invaders. [29]

Before he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, minister Yogi Adityanath praised former U.S. President Trump's position on a Muslim immigration ban and stated that “similar action[s] [are] needed to contain terror activities in this country.” [30] [31] [32]

The BJP introduced a migrant law that excluded Muslims from applying for asylum. [1]

Netherlands

Geert Wilders is a prominent advocate for a ban on immigration from Muslim nations in the Netherlands. [33] [34] [35] [36]

Russia

Long time Russian leader of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky had called for a ban on Muslim immigration. [37]

Sri Lanka

Refugees from countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently discriminated against, and social media has been hostile towards the idea of immigration from Muslim countries. [38] Muslim "preachers" can be deported if not holding a correct visa and/or preaching a form of Islam that is considered to be against the values of Sri Lanka. [39]

Muslims were expelled from the Northern Province in 1990 as part of a form of ethnic cleansing due to the Muslims' differences in terms of ethnicity and genetics, to the main and traditional home of Sri Lankan Muslims in the Eastern Province. Contact with Muslims in the post-war era has led to further Islamophobia as the local population have had little-to-no experience in dealing with Muslims, leading to further pogrom-like activity against the Muslim community. [40] [41]

Muslims can often be viewed as "foreign" to the island due to their history of ethnic segregation and other cultural and genetic differences. [42] Islamophobia has been described as a bridge between Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese in the post-war era. [43]

United Kingdom and Ireland

Opposition to immigration from Muslim countries has been widely debated in British and Irish culture. [44] [45] [46] An opinion poll in 2017 found that around half of British people wanted to stop immigration from Muslim majority countries. [47]

Shamima Begum was a teenage woman whose British citizenship was revoked due to her involvement with Islamist groups. This has been viewed as an Islamophobic citizenship and immigration policy. [48]

In the summer of 2024, Islamophobic anti-immigration riots rocked several parts of the UK in what was described as the worst rioting since the 2011 England riots. It was part of an uptick in Islamophobic riot activity including the 2022 Leicester riots and 2023 Dublin riots. [46] [49]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Hanson</span> Australian politician (born 1954)

Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian Senate since the 2016 Federal Election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Hanson's One Nation</span> Australian political party

Pauline Hanson's One Nation, also known as One Nation or One Nation Party, is a right-wing populist political party in Australia. It is led by Pauline Hanson.

Islamophobia is the fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often regard Muslims as a geopolitical threat or a source of terrorism. Muslims, with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, are often inaccurately portrayed by Islamophobes as a single homogenous racial group.

FrontPage Magazine, also known as FrontPageMag.com, is an American right-wing, anti-Islam political website edited by David Horowitz and published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The site has also been described by scholars and writers as far-right and Islamophobic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan Australians</span> Ethnic group

Sri Lankan Australians are people of Sri Lankan heritage living in Australia; this includes Sri Lankans by birth and by ancestry. Sri Lankan Australians constitute one of the largest groups of Overseas Sri Lankan communities and are the largest diasporic Sri Lankan community in Oceania. Sri Lankan Australians consist of people with Sinhalese, Tamil, Moor, Burgher, Malay and Chinese origins among others.

The post-9/11 period is the time after the September 11 attacks, characterized by heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy.

Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political ideology that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in which they are not citizens. Illegal immigration occurs when people immigrate to a country without having official permission to do so. Opposition to immigration ranges from calls for various immigration reforms, to proposals to completely restrict immigration, to calls for repatriation of existing immigrants.

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Bodu Bala Sena, also abbreviated as BBS is a far-right anti-liberalist, and ultranationalist Sinhalese Buddhist organization, and a break-away faction from the right-wing nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya party. The BBS generally opposes pluralist and democratic ideologies, and criticizes non-extremist Buddhist monks for not taking action against the rise of other religions within Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamophobia in the United States</span> Prejudice towards Islam or Muslims in the US

American Muslims often face Islamophobia and racialization due to stereotypes and generalizations ascribed to them. Due to this, Islamophobia is both a product of and a contributor to the United States' racial ideology, which is founded on socially constructed categories of profiled features, or how people seem.

Islamophobia in Australia is distrust and hostility towards Muslims, Islam, and those perceived as following the religion. This social aversion and bias is often facilitated and perpetuated in the media through the stereotyping of Muslims as violent and uncivilised. Various Australian politicians and political commentators have capitalised on these negative stereotypes and this has contributed to the marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion of the Muslim community.

Islamophobia in the media refers to negative coverage of Islam-related topics, Muslims, or Arabs by media outlets in a way that is hostile, untrue, and/or misleading. Islamophobia is defined as "Intense dislike or fear of Islam, especially as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims", and the study of how and to what extent the media furthers Islamophobia has been the subject of much academic and political discussion.

Islamophobia in Canada refers to a set of discourses, behaviours and structures which express feelings of anxiety, fear, hostility and rejection towards Islam or Muslims in Canada.

Allegations of Islamophobia in the UK Conservative Party have been made, including against senior politicians, such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Zac Goldsmith. Baroness Warsi, former co-chair of the Conservative Party, said in 2018 that anti-Muslim prejudice had "poisoned" the party. Many Muslim party members welcomed Warsi's comments, saying that they felt the issue had been marginalised within the party.

The New English Review is an online monthly magazine of cultural criticism, published from Nashville, Tennessee, since February 2006. Scholars note the magazine to have platformed a range of far-right Islamophobic discourse including conspiracy theories. An eponymous press is run by the same publisher.

Islamophobia in France holds a particularly political significance since France has the largest proportion of Muslims in the Western world, primarily due to the migration from Maghrebi, West African, and Middle Eastern countries. The existence of discrimination against Muslims is reported by the media in the Muslim world and by the perceived segregation and alienation of Muslims within the French community. The belief that there is an anti-Muslim climate in France is heavily criticised by some members of the French Muslim community who terms it an 'exaggeration'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamophobia in Italy</span> Prejudice towards Islam or Muslims in Italy

Islamophobia is characterized by a hatred against the religion of Islam and those perceived to be following the religion, typically fueled by fear and hatred and sustained through the evolving stereotype of the Muslim identity. It has become increasingly common and widespread throughout the world, in particular since the September 11 attacks in the United States, however it existed in society before this. In Europe, there has been an increase in cultural tensions between national majorities and marginalized Muslim countries, as shown by the results of the 2009 elections in the European Parliament with a large vote toward anti-immigration. Within Italy, there is a large Islamic presence of approximately 1.25 million people, stemming from the widespread migration and settlement that began in the 1970s, in particular from North Africa. The Islamic population of Italy increasingly faces challenges when it comes to their position in society, with the increasing cultural hostility that stems from the growing presence of Islamophobia. Islamophobia has been present within Italy for many years; for example, in the 1920s, Muslims were not permitted to settle in the country due to their religion being viewed as "against common morality." The intensity of Islamophobia in Italy is enhanced by the historical religious structure of the state – which is heavily based on the Catholic Church.

Islamophobia in Poland is the fear, hatred of, or prejudice against the Islamic religion or Muslims in Poland. Since the Muslim community in Poland is small the situation has been described as "Islamophobia without Muslims". According to Monika Bobako, Islamophobia is one of the main elements of the Polish nationalist discourse. Islamophobia in Poland takes the form of xenophobia and discrimination towards Muslims or those perceived as Muslim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halal conspiracy theories</span> Conspiracy theories about halal certification

Halal conspiracy theories revolve around a series of Islamophobic conspiracy theories and hoaxes regarding halal certification in products such as food, beverages and cosmetics. The claims usually made include that the sale of halal-certified goods in stores is a precursor to the terrorization or institution of Sharia law in a non-Muslim country, that the fees paid by companies for halal certification fund Islamic terrorism, that halal slaughter for meat is cruel, unhygienic or constitutes as animal sacrifice, among others. The spread of these claims has resulted in boycotts and harassment campaigns against businesses who sell halal-certified products, most notably in Australia and India, although anti-halal boycott movements also exist in Denmark, France, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the aftermath of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, an uptick in Islamophobic comments and sentiment has been observed, in both Israel itself and countries all over the world.

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See also