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UN chief says migrant children should not be separated from families

MANHATTAN: In a rare criticism of the United States, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that migrant children should not be separated from their families at the US-Mexico border.

“As a matter of principle, the secretary-general believes that refugees and migrants should always be treated with respect and dignity, and in accordance with existing international law,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. “Children must not be traumatized by being separated from their parents. Family unity must be preserved,” he added. UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein also spoke out against the US administration’s policy of separating migrant families, saying “the thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable.”

About 2,000 children have been separated from their parents or adult guardians over six weeks, according to US authorities. The number of separations has jumped since early May, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that all migrants illegally crossing the US border with Mexico would be arrested, regardless of whether the adults were seeking asylum. Since children cannot be sent to the facilities where their parents are held, they are separated, which the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned causes “irreparable harm” to the children.

M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.