Updated | Prime Minister calls Donald Trump’s refugee ban ‘heavy-handed’

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has called the US President’s decision to ban entry of those fleeing war-torn Syria, among other countries, as “heavy-handed”.

“The Prime Minister and the Maltese government clearly disagree with discrimination based on origin or religion,” the Office of the Prime Minister said.

In a press statement, the opposition said Muscat had a duty, both as Prime Minister and as chair of the Presidency of the European Council, to take a stand on the matter.

In a reaction, the Office of the Prime Minister said the opposition  “should stop trying to politicise everything, especially when its leader was present when the Prime Minister made his position in public”.

The OPM was referring to comments delivered by Muscat during a Brexit discussion organised by the Chamber of Commerce.

Muscat said: "[Brexit on its own is one thing.]  Adding to it the decisions that the new US administration is taking, some of which we clearly disagree with since they are heavy handed..."

The OPM insisted that this was a clear reference to the US President's refugee-related decisions, “which surely did not go by unnoticed by the audience”.

The statement comes ahead of the Malta Summit on Friday, during which the 28 leaders of the EU will gather in Malta to discuss migration and the future of the European Union.

In his invitation letter to the heads of state and government, European Council President Donald Tusk said Europe was now facing “external threats”, including “the worrying declarations by the new American administration [which makes] our future highly unpredictable”.

“For the first time in our history, in an increasingly multipolar external world, so many are becoming openly anti-European, or Eurosceptic at best. Particularly the change in Washington puts the European Union in a difficult situation; with the new administration seeming to put into question the last 70 years of American foreign policy,” Tusk said.

The PN today said that President Trump’s decision also raises serious concerns for Malta which has long benefitted from the resettlement of refugees from Malta to the US.

Since 2007, the US has accepted some 3,100 refugees from Malta under the US Resettlement Programme. In just two years, over 1,000 refugees started a new life in America.

“The Prime Minister should explain if and how the recent Executive Order of President Trump will affect Malta and specifically whether the US will now stop accepting refugees who have been granted international protection in Malta,” the PN said.

In comments to the national broadcaster, US ambassador G. Kathleen Hill confirmed that the programme was suspended for four months and it remains unclear what will happen once the 120 days elapse.