The ACP has issued a statement on the recent enforced separation of children from their parents on the American Mexican border. It is a basic human right for parents and children to remain together and legislation endeavours to keep families together unless it is deemed to be damaging to the child or children. Children and adolescents arriving at a ‘place of safety’ are often forced to wait in limbo whilst governments decide their fate. This is in complete contrast with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the idea of the ‘Best Interests’ of the child being paramount. It is intolerable for children and adolescents to wait in such conditions and as a profession we want to raise awareness of the profound and lasting damage that is being inflicted in such circumstances.
The full statement can be read here.