Middle East nations react with fury at new US rule; Qatar Airways issues travel alert

Shortly after US President Donald Trump passed a new law which temporarily banned people from seven Muslim nations from entering the country, the Middle East is fuming.

Arabs and Iranians planning US trips reacted with fury at the new American travel curbs they said were insulting and discriminatory. Five Iraqis and a Yemeni were stopped from boarding a New York-bound flight in Cairo.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways, which operates flights to 15 American cities, has started advising USA-bound passengers from seven countries that they will need to have either a US green card or diplomatic visa in order to travel, reported The Peninsula.

A statement on Qatar Airways’ website said:

“Per an Immigration Advisory Notice from US Customs and Border Protection with regards to new US immigration entry requirements affecting the nationals of the following countries — Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen.

Nationals from these countries may travel to the US only if they are in possession of a permanent resident card (Green card) or any of the below visas.”

It listed foreign government, United Nations, international organisation and NATO visas.

Another report by Reuters said that people holding so-called green cards, making them legal permanent US residents, were also included in Trump’s executive action temporarily barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the USA.

“It will bar green card holders,” Gillian Christensen, acting Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in an email.

Cairo airport officials said seven US-bound migrants — six from Iraq and one from Yemen — have been prevented from boarding an EgyptAir flight to New York's JFK airport.

Trump has imposed a three-month ban on refugees from the seven countries. Officials said the seven migrants, escorted by officials from the UN refugee agency, were stopped from boarding the plane after authorities at Cairo airport contacted their counterparts in JFK airport.

Authorities detained two Iraqi refugees who landed at New York's John F Kennedy airport hours after Trump signed the tough new measures.