GENEVA - The U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday he was shocked at repressive policies being pursued in the United States and Europe, especially the increasingly harsh treatment of migrants.
In an annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, High Commissioner for Human Rights ZeidRa’ad al-Hussein also took democracies to task for failing to respect basic rights.
“In the United States, I am shocked by reports that many migrants intercepted at the southern borders, including children, are detained in abusive conditions – such as freezing temperatures – and that some young children are being detained separately from their families,” he said. “Detentions and deportations of long-standing and law-abiding migrants have sharply increased, tearing families apart and creating enormous hardship.”
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had also ended the Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Programme, which offered adolescents and children “a lifeline to safety”, and ended Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of people. (Reuters)