Baroness Afshar, an emeritus professor of Politics at York, spoke out against President Trump’s travel ban in a debate in the House of Lords yesterday.
The Baroness, who was born in Iran, asked the Minister of State for the Foreign Office to explain what steps the Government has taken to make sure Iranian born Brits were not discriminated against by the travel ban. The crossbencher also asked the Minister to explain how the Government has made sure travelers to the US aren’t discriminated against “in terms of their dress code, assumed nationality or religion”.
Another peer in the debate, the Lib Dem Baroness Northover, said it was “shocking” that Afshar might not be welcome in the United States as an Iranian born citizen.
Afshar studied her BA at York before doing a PhD at Cambridge, and now teaches Politics and Women’s Studies. She was awarded an OBE in 2005 for her work on equal opportunities, and has been named as one of the most successful Muslim women in Britain.
The US travel ban, which applies to citizens from 7 Muslim majority countries, should not apply to British citizens with dual nationality, according to the Foreign Office. The ban has temporarily been suspended, pending further legal action, after a ruling by a US appeals court.
However, despite the suspension, there has been recent reports in the media of British Muslims being denied entry to the US, including a primary school teacher from Wales.