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Dual citizen Danes will not be affected by Trump entry ban, Foreign Ministry says

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Dual citizen Danes will not be affected by Trump entry ban, Foreign Ministry says
Protesters demonstrate outside of Congress on Monday night. Photo: WIN MCNAMEE/SCANPIX

Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Tuesday that despite previous information provided by Washington to the contrary, no Danes will be affected by US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning citizens from the Muslim-majority countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days.

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The executive order was signed on Friday and as recently as Monday the Danish Foreign Ministry said that Danes who also have citizenship from one of those seven countries would be included in the ban. 
 
But Samuelsen said that the US Embassy in Copenhagen has now clarified the policy.
 
“We received the message from the American embassy that Danes with dual citizenship won’t be affected,” Samuelsen told news agency Ritzau. “We got the message from the embassy so therefore we must expect that it is effective immediately.”
 
The Foreign Ministry also posted a short update to Facebook.
 
“The entry ban does not apply to Danes with dual citizenship if they travel with a Danish passport,” the message said. It went on to encourage Denmark-based travellers to contact the US Embassy for further information about entering the United States. 
 
According to Statistics Denmark, there are 57,374 Danes who also have citizenship in the seven predominantly Muslim countries on Trump’s blacklist. 
 
In addition to the 90-day entry ban, Trump also suspended the US refugee resettlement programme for 120 days and put an indefinite stop to the acceptance of Syrian refugees. 
 
It had previously been reported that dual citizens from the UK and Australia were exempt from the entry ban but whether the Trump administration has now made an exception for all dual citizens was unknown as of 7.30pm on Friday. 
 
"We had people out in the field in London to discover what the Brits had found out, and also in Washington of course. That is what we wanted clarification on. Thus we now should be in a situation in which Danish citizens are not affected by the situation," Samuelsen said. 
 
Trump’s executive orders on immigration have sparked a global outcry and criticism from both Democrats and Republicans in the US. The moves sparked immediate anger, confusion and protests in airports across the United States. 
 
Samuelsen himself called the ban "NOT fair" in a rare example of a high-ranking Danish politician speaking out against US policy. 
 
 

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