UN takes US to task about separating migrant children from families
Governments in many rich countries have adopted ‘despicable’ rhetoric on migration, says UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
Geneva — The United Nations refugee agency is very concerned about the US separating the children of asylum seekers from their families, and has raised the issue with Washington, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said. In an interview with Reuters, Grandi said the Trump administration had legitimate concerns about how to manage asylum applications, noting that the US has the largest backlog of asylum cases in the world. "One positive sign is that the administration wants to invest more resources in reducing this backlog," he said. But Washington needed to find ways to manage the flow "without penalising the people themselves, people who oftentimes have very valid reasons to seek asylum". "On measures that result in separating children from their families, we are very concerned and have expressed this concern," he said. Grandi said governments in many rich countries had adopted "despicable" rhetoric on migration, ignoring their duty to help people fleeing war or persec...
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