Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Friday said she was “heartbroken” by United States President Donald Trump’s order restricting the entry of refugees into the country. Trump had signed an executive order banning Syrian refugees from coming into the US indefinitely, and restricting refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries for four months.

In a Facebook post, the 19-year-old, who was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012, said, “I am heartbroken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants – the people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life.” She asked Trump not to “turn his back on the world’s most defenceless children and families.”

Trump’s decree, which was signed on Friday, is called “Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States”. The new order also halts a programme that allows for the relocation of people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice to the United States. “We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country,” Trump had said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it would file a lawsuit to challenge the validity of the order. “There is no evidence that refugees – the most thoroughly vetted of all people entering our nation – are a threat to national security,” said Lena F Masri, the council’s national litigation director. “This is an order that is based on bigotry, not reality.”

Here is Malala Yousafzai’s statement:

“I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war. I am heartbroken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants — the people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life.

I am heartbroken that Syrian refugee children, who have suffered through six years of war by no fault of their own, are singled-out for discrimination.

I am heartbroken for girls like my friend Zaynab, who fled wars in three countries — Somalia, Yemen and Egypt — before she was even 17. Two years ago she received a visa to come to the United States. She learned English, graduated high school and is now in college studying to be a human rights lawyer.

Zaynab was separated from her little sister when she fled unrest in Egypt. Today her hope of being reunited with her precious sister dims.

In this time of uncertainty and unrest around the world, I ask President Trump not to turn his back on the world’s most defenseless children and families.”