Photo: Press
The organisers of South By Southwest have described Trump’s banning of refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries as “alarming”, while producer Ash Koosha, who is signed by Ninja Tune, has spoken about being directly affected by the ban.
“SXSW is alarmed by the Trump administration’s decision to ban citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.,” a SXSW statement read. “We stand against discriminatory laws and unequivocally support civil rights for all persons everywhere. Participation by speakers, artists, and filmmakers from around the world is crucial to the creative mix of ideas that makes our event meaningful."
The statement added to those released by Silicon Valley companies and other entertainment groups as global protest against the ban grew.
Iranian-born producer Ash Koosha, meanwhile, has told Rolling Stone about his experience of “extreme vetting” by US immigration while promoting his latest album ‘I AKA I’, and the immediate effects of being banned from America by the new executive order.
“Growing up in Iran, we spent our entire lives caught in the middle of a conflict,” said Koosha, who was accepted into the UK as a refugee from Iran in 2010. “Everyone was discriminated against for no reason other than that we were Iranian. But this is time it's worse, because it affects refugees, who are in immediate danger, as well as scholars, technology executives and everyone else. It's not a new thing for us. The difference this time is that I'm really fed up. It's a straight-on slap in the face.”
He continued: “That feeling was always there, and now it's been heightened. The U.S. says I'm probably a terrorist because I'm from Iran so I have to prove I'm not a terrorist… Conservative Member of Parliament Nadhim Zahawi, who represents Stratford-upon-Avon, is now banned. A Syrian refugee is banned. And I'm banned. … agents have stopped booking me for shows in the U.S. They can't risk it. They'll stop booking everyone from Iran. I'm on hold now and can't say for sure what will happen.”
