This is only a "conservative" estimate but it already says the proportions of migration policy of the Trump administration in the United States: more than 100,000 children are currently detained for migratory reasons, reveals Monday, June 19, United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.
"The total number of (children) detainees is 103,000," says Manfred Nowak, independent expert and one of the co-authors of this study, who obtained his figures by crossing the official figures with complementary sources that he affirms " very reliable ".
He said that number included unaccompanied minors, those who had been arrested with their relatives, and those who had been separated from their parents before detention.
Worldwide, at least 330,000 children are detained in 80 countries for migration-related reasons, according to the same study. The United States alone would therefore concentrate almost a third of these child detentions.
A policy contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
The published study examines violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Entered into force in 1990, it stipulates that the detention of children should only be used "as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible duration".
"The detention of children related to migration should never be considered (...), in the interest of the child.There are always other solutions," said Manfred Nowak to journalists in Geneva.
Of the United Nations, the United States is the only country that has not ratified the convention. However, for Manfred Nowak, the non-signature did not absolve the administration of President Donald Trump from responsibility for his actions regarding the detention of migrant children on the border with Mexico.
"Separating children from their parents, as has been done by the Trump administration, even young children, on the border with Mexico (...), constitutes inhuman treatment for both parents and children. child, "he said.
He also explained that the US administration had not cooperated in the study by ignoring a questionnaire sent to the UN member states for the constitution of this one.
The migratory firmness of Donald Trump
Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, "this administration has made immigration a fundamental issue," says Jessica Bolter, researcher at the Migration Policy Institute, in Libération. "She has also taken advantage of executive powers, allowing federal agencies to undertake policy changes without going through Congress."
Tougher conditions of entry, policy of expulsion strengthened, extended periods of detention ... Since his inauguration, the US president has increased measures of firmness in migration. In his crazy promise to build a "big and beautiful wall" on the border between the United States and Mexico, he adds an administrative wall against migrants.
In late August, the government put an end to a 1997 court ruling called "Flores", which requires the federal authorities not to keep migrant children in detention for more than 20 days. Authorizing de facto unlimited detention of minors illegally entered the United States.
Detention of minors also explodes in Mexico
Another pillar of the zero tolerance policy of the US administration: the implementation in January of the badly named Migrant Protection Protocol. Obtained by twisting the arm of his Mexican counterpart, he authorizes the return of asylum seekers to Mexico while their case is processed by the US immigration services.
Under pressure, Mexico is experiencing the same phenomenon in the detention of minors. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador enforced migration laws harder. Between September 2018 and September 2019, 40,500 minor migrants traveling to the United States without their parents were apprehended by the Mexican authorities.
According to the UN study, in Mexico, 18,000 children are currently detained for reasons related to immigration.
In total, the United Nations study shows that 7 million children are deprived of freedom in the world in different kinds of institutions.