Refugees in Malta seeking US resettlement remain in limbo after President Donald Trump’s executive order to suspend the entire refugee admissions programme.

The US Embassy in Malta was yesterday unable to say how the order would impact the Maltese resettlement programme.

The embassy was working with the departments of homeland security and health and human services to effect the executive order, US Ambassador G. Kathleen Hill told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“Information about specific programmes, such as the programme to resettle refugees from Malta in the United States, has not yet been released,” she said.

The home affairs and foreign affairs ministries said that they had not yet received any communication from the American government.

Since the programme began in 2007, over 1,600 of the refugees who arrived in Malta have been resettled to the US.

The solidarity offered by the US in this respect has been by far more generous than that of the EU Member States. The suspension of the refugee admissions programme for 120 days is one of several measures included in the executive order signed by Mr Trump last Friday.

The order imposes a 90-day restriction on entry to the US for nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran and Iraq. Syrian refugees are banned from entry until further notice, the order says.

The entire US refugee admissions programme was also suspended for 120 days, and a lower cap on numbers introduced.

Ambassador Hill said the executive order was signed to assure the safety and security of the American people. She added that while the order affected refugee admissions and travel from certain countries, it did not impact the majority of assistance provided to refugees worldwide.

“The US continues to be the leader in the provision of humanitarian assistance around the world,” she said, listing the international organisations for which the US is the largest single donor.

Mr Trump said the measures outlined in the executive order would “keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US”.

Rights groups in the US are challenging the order, however, insisting that there is no link between Syrian refugees in the US  and terrorism.

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