Alwaght- Leader of Britain's Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has deplored US President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy as “tragic and shocking”.
"It's tragic and shocking to see innocent children caged like animals at US migrant camps and to hear their cries of anguish after being forcibly separated from their parents," the opposition leader said in a tweet on Tuesday.
“It's immoral and goes against fundamental human rights we must always respect, no matter the situation,” he added.
The Trump administration's policy of separating families was announced April 6 and went into effect in May.
Nearly 2,000 immigrant children were separated from parents over a period of about six weeks in April and May, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The number is a dramatic uptick from the nearly 1,800 family separations from October 2016 through February 2018.
The British Prime Minister Theresa May also distanced herself from Trump’s immigration policy, saying that the UK approach “very clear and humane”. Later on Tuesday, Downing Street stated: “We do not separate child refugees from their families.”
The UN Human Rights Council also blasted on Monday Trump’s new policy of separating migrant parents from their children at the US-Mexican border, calling it “unconscionable” and akin to child abuse.
Members of US Congress have introduced legislation to end the practice of separating families, but continue to call on Trump to unilaterally stop the practice.
Trump, however, has defended the ‘zero tolerance’ policy saying he does not want his country to become a “migrant camp”, while the practice has brought international condemnation from global leaders and human rights organizations.
Currently, there are over 10,000 children being detained in the United States.
