Trump grants 6,900 Syrians permission to stay in US

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionDemonstrations were held in Washington against Mr Trump's decision

The Trump administration has extended temporary protection for nearly 7,000 Syrians in living in the US as war continues to ravage their country.

They were shielded from deportation under a humanitarian programme, Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

The president has cancelled the programme for various countries in recent months, affecting immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua.

The US said it will not accept new TPS applicants from Syria.

"It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria's designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute," Secretary of Homeland (DHS) Security Kirstjen M Nielsen said in a statement.

"We will continue to determine each country's TPS status on a country-by-country basis."

For Syrians already living and working in the US, TPS will be extended for another 18 months. But Syrians who entered the US after August 2016 will be excluded from the programme despite the deteriorating conditions at home.

Protections were set to expire for Syrians on 31 March.

Media captionWhat is temporary protected status - and why is El Salvador losing it?

Earlier this month, DHS announced it would end protected status for 262,500 Salvadorians with an 18-month delay. In November, the administration said status for nearly 59,000 Haitians would end in 2019.