Migrant Children At US Border Have Right To Be With Their Families' : UN

Separating children from their families is in no-one's best interest "the head of UN Children's Fund UNICEF said on Tuesday pointing to "heartbreaking" stories of infants who have been reportedly removed from their parents after entering the US from Mexico illegally.

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jun, 2018 ) :Separating children from their families is in no-one's best interest "the head of UN Children's Fund UNICEF said on Tuesday pointing to "heartbreaking" stories of infants who have been reportedly removed from their parents after entering the US from Mexico illegally.

In an appeal to the US regarding its recent policy change cracking down on migration at the border with Mexico, Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement that children who were in need of international protection "have the right to be protected and be with their families".

She underlined how for decades the US Government had provided support to "uprooted children" from Syria or South Sudan, Somalia, or Haiti, before warning that detention and family separation can create "toxic stress" which can impact on children's long-term development.

Ms Fore added that any youngsters forced to flee their homes should have access to essential services and be with their families, since this gave them "the best chance at a healthy, happy and productive future." Echoing that message, UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, in Geneva, said that immigration and children's rights were not incompatible.

He told journalists: "I think our main role here is to make the point that what's happening is not right and, and, more than that, immigration enforcement and protecting the right of children are not a zero-sum game." Echoing that message, UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, in Geneva, said that immigration and children's rights were not incompatible.

Research showed that taking children into custody without their parents had an "immediate" and negative effect on their wellbeing, Mr Boulierac said.

He highlighted research which showed that children who have not seen a parent for one month after the parents' arrest "experience more frequent changes in sleeping habits, anger and withdrawing from their family", compared with children who had seen their parents within the same period following their arrest.

Responding to journalists' questions, Mr Boulierac confirmed that the US is the only country which has signed but has yet to ratify the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

He cited Article 9 of the international accord, which specifies that a child "shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will" except after judicial review and only if it is "necessary for the best interests of the child".

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that refugee and migrant "children must not be traumatized by being separated from their parents" as U.S. President Donald Trump faces heavy pressure to stop such a policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Family unity must be preserved," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "The Secretary-General believes that refugees and migrants should always be treated with respect and dignity, and in accordance with existing international law." Democrats and some in Trump's own Republican Party have strongly condemned the administration for separating nearly 2,000 children from their parents at the border between mid-April and the end of May. Medical professionals have said the practice could cause lasting trauma to children.

On the same issue the UN Migration Agency IOM said that it agreed "almost 100 per cent" with the UNICEF statement.

"We feel in general no migrant should be detained for being a migrant," IOM spokesperson Joel Millman said, before adding that there was "no appropriate reason to detain or jail children".