The United Nations on Tuesday urged Washington to immediately halt its controversial practice of separating asylum-seeking Central American immigrant children from their parents at the southern border. The UN rights office said it was "deeply concerned" over the "zero tolerance" policy introduced by the administration of US President Donald Trump in a bid to deter illegal immigration.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani warned the US policy had "led to people caught entering the country irregularly being subjected to criminal prosecution and having their children - including extremely young children - taken away from them as a result."
She said information received from US civil society groups indicated that several hundred children had been separated from their parents at the border since October, including a one-year-old.
"The US should immediately halt this practice," she told reporters in Geneva.
"The practice of separating families amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life, and is a serious violation of the rights of the child," she said.
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