MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - A group of religious and human rights organizations are calling on Congress to address the humanitarian crisis concerned with refugees from Central America.
“We call on policymakers to meet our moral and legal obligations to ensure these children and families are treated humanely and provided all due protections under current law,” the open letter from the groups said.
They call on Congress to address the emergency needs of the people at the border and provide resources to deal with the underlying conditions in Central America that drive people away from there.
“We encourage Congress to address the root causes by investing in violence prevention, criminal justice reform, and development that will help stabilize communities and expand opportunities for the young people of Central America,” the letter said.
As thousands of Central Americans enter the United States, thousands of them are being deported back to their home countries. What remains unknown is what happens to those deportees once they are back, including the deported children.
“In terms of what actually happens to the kids and what conditions they go back to, there is no real follow-up,” said Richard Jones, deputy director for the Catholic Relief Services’ Latin America program, quoted by the International Business Times.
American President Barack Obama is to meet with the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in Washington on Friday to discuss their approach to the border situation and the ways of solving the issues.
According to the US Customs and Border Protection data, so far in 2014, more than 57,000 children have entered the United States through the Southwest Border, which is almost 30,000 more than over the same time period in 2013. The biggest numbers come from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
