WORLD | France, Germany unite in face of Trump refugee ban

In this Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 photo, released by the French Foreign ministry, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, right, greets his newly appointed German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, before talks at the French Foreign Ministry in Paris, France. |  Associated Press

PARIS — France and Germany formed a united front yesterday in the face of President Donald Trump's halt in the US refugee program, with the German foreign minister noting that loving thy neighbor forms part of America's Christian traditions.

After meeting yesterday, the foreign ministers of both nations, Jean-Marc Ayrault and Germany's Sigmar Gabriel, said they want to meet with Rex Tillerson, Trump's nominee for secretary of state who is still awaiting confirmation.

Ayrault said Trump's order on Friday that bars all refugees from entering the United States for four months — and those from war-ravaged Syria indefinitely — "can only worry us."

"We have signed international obligations, so welcoming refugees fleeing war and oppression forms part of our duties," the French minister said.

"There are many other issues that worry us," he added. "That is why Sigmar and I also discussed what we are going to do. When our colleague, Tillerson, is officially appointed, we will both contact him."

Gabriel — on his first trip abroad since his appointment Friday — said offering refuge to the persecuted and those fleeing death are western values that Europe and the United States share.

"Love thy neighbor is part of this tradition, the act of helping others," he said. "This unites us, we Westerners. And I think that this remains a common foundation that we share with the United States, one we aim to promote."

Trump declared the ban necessary to prevent "radical Islamic terrorists" from entering the United States.

The order immediately suspended a program that last year resettled to the US roughly 85,000 people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice.