WORLDWIDE revulsion at Donald Trump’s racist refugee and Muslim travel ban continued to mount yesterday as the US president claimed feebly that it was “not about religion.”

Mr Trump’s executive order — indefinitely barring refugees from Syria from entering the US, slapping a 120-day ban on all refugee admissions and listing seven Muslim-majority countries from which no individuals can be allowed in — has caused protests in dozens of US and foreign cities and chaos at airports.

Air France was among airlines confirming that it was turning away passengers born in the designated countries. The weekend saw demonstrations against the ban take over a number of US airports and widespread confusion over who was affected, with conflicting statements being over whether holders of US green cards could enter the country and over the status of individuals with dual nationality.

But a Trump administration official asserted that the order had been executed “seamlessly and with extraordinary professionalism” as the president claimed it would have been inappropriate to give any warning of the ban in case “bad dudes” flooded into the US in the window they had left.

Canada said at the weekend that it would welcome refugees who rejected by the US.

Other countries followed suit, with Italian government and church officials greeting 41 Syrian refugees at Rome airport yesterday, handing balloons to the children under a “Welcome to Italy” banner.

“At a moment in time where they’re building walls in other parts of the world, we are making bridges,” said Interior Ministry official Donatella Candura.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres pointedly praised African countries for welcoming large numbers of refugees at an African Union summit in Ethiopia, saying: “African borders remain open for those in need of protection.”

Condemnations of the US ban piled in. Medecins Sans Frontieres said Mr Trump’s policy would “effectively keep people trapped in war zones, directly endangering their lives.”

Iraqi MPs said their parliament had approved a “reciprocity measure” barring US citizens from Iraq, while the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Co-operation warned that the Trump order would “embolden the radical narratives of extremists.”