KLM and Schiphol airport have no choice but to cooperate with US president Donald Trump’s entry ban for people from seven Muslim countries because it will cost them millions of euros if they don’t, broadcaster NOS said on Monday.

The head of the Dutch pilot’s union told the broadcaster that airlines face a five figure fine if they fly people to the US who are banned from entering. ‘Should the government pay?’ Steven Verhagen said. ‘No, because that would be illegal state support.’

A spokesman for KLM told the broadcaster that the airline is being unfairly blamed for not taking passengers from the seven countries. ‘We only check their passports for which we follow instructions from the US security services,’ the spokesman said.

US interests

Around 25% of KLM’s turnover comes from the US, NOS pointed out. In addition, the Schiphol airport group also holds the operating franchise for John F Kennedy international airport’s terminal 4 where there were mass protests against the ban at the weekend.

Schiphol itself has not commented on the situation in Amsterdam, where several Iranian nationals are waiting in the transit lounge to find out if they will be allowed in to the US after all.

Students

One person told DutchNews.nl he is a Phd student who was heading to the University of Minnesota to carry out research. He and another Phd student are now camped out at Schiphol awaiting a flight back to Iran on January 31.

‘They have just told us we cannot continue our journey. They wanted to change our return flight to January 29 but we were able to convince them to move it until January 31. I’m hopeful this will be fixed so I can continue,’ the student whose name is known to DutchNews.nl, said.

Six people on the flight from Iran which arrived at Schiphol on Saturday morning were affected, the student said. The other four are two couples who were going to visit their daughters who live in the US.

Dual nationals

The Netherlands and Germany have both asked their embassies in Washington to find out what the consequences of US president Donald Trump’s entry ban for people from seven Muslim countries are for dual nationals.

‘We have agreed to protect the rights of our citizens and will discuss at an EU level what needs to be done,’ foreign minister Bert Koenders and Germany’s Sigmar Gabriel said in a joint statement. As yet it is unclear if people with Dutch nationality who originate from one of the seven countries on the banned list are affected.

Dutch prince Constantijn, who heads the start-up initiative Startup Delta, has also commented on the ban. ‘Is this our future?’ he said on Twitter, and retweeted several messages criticising the US president’s action.

Is this our future? Judge Blocks Trump Order on Refugees Amid Chaos and Outcry Worldwide https://t.co/nPsBRk57Y7 — Constantijn (@constantijn14) January 29, 2017