MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2019) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Wednesday she was concerned over the US policy, known informally as Remain in Mexico, that sends asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are being processed.
Under non-refoulement principle of international asylum law, the United States cannot return people seeking refuge to countries where they may face prosecution. In January, it began sending asylum seekers to Mexico, where the authorities reportedly provide them with humanitarian visas that allow them to live and work in the country while they wait for their asylum hearing in the United States, usually scheduled 45 days after they arrive at the US border.
"In the United States, the new migrant protection protocols, which restrict access to asylum and other forms of human rights protection, and push migrants back across the border to wait for the proceeding without due process of safeguards, are a source of concern," Bachelet said, presenting her annual report.
The policy doesn't apply to minors entering the United States without adults or asylum seekers from Mexico.
It has already been challenged by activist groups.
