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WASHINGTON (SW): The United States announced on Monday (Jan 29) it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 "high-risk" countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past.
Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Muslim-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher "risk-based" assessments to be accepted. "It's critically important that we know who is entering the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
The 11 countries, hit with a ban in October in the Trump administration's revised refugee policy, have not been identified officially, the AFP has reported. But refugee groups say they comprise Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Donald Trump has pursued a much tougher stance on immigrants and refugees from all countries since becoming president one year ago. His predecessor Barack Obama set refugee admission in fiscal 2017, which began on October 2016, at 110,000. When Trump took office a year ago, he slashed that to 53,000, a number that was cut again to a maximum of 45,000 in fiscal 2018.
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