happening at the moment so the pandemic is the main challenge and that's also the reason why you wrote it is still so popular because a lot of people actually look at the leader that they know to handle this but beyond that when to handle this crisis what happens after that a lot of people are also predicting he won't be in power for much longer because of the scandals that have tainted his government thank you very much to all the latest on those elections are now the lens step fasten. a look at the main stories now hundreds of millions of europeans could be able to travel around the continent from this summer if an app on their smartphone shows they been vaccinated proposed by the e.u. commission the digital green pass means freedom of movement being restored from june but some in nations think the plan is too slow and the world health organization is opposed to the idea because of much of the world is far behind on

vaccinations or the european union has also threatened to ban exports of covert 1000 vaccines to britain because of a lack of deliveries from astra zeneca it is hard to explain to our citizen why vaccines produced in the european union are going to other countries that are also producing vaccines but hardly nothing is coming back to the european union we're still waiting for doses to come from the u.k. so this is an invitation to show us that there are also doses from the u.k. coming to the european union so that we have reciprocity if the situation does not change we will have to reflect on how to make exports to vaccine producing countries dependent on their level of openness. meanwhile the pan american health organization is warning brazil has a very high rate of covert 19 transmission in all regions brazil registered 2841

code related deaths on tuesday its worst day of the pandemic all spittal beds and nearly full in more than hoffa states health organization called on the government to improve protections meanwhile the most powerful but it's but it's monks association has called on the military to end its crackdown government appointed organization has accused an armed minority of torturing and killing innocent civilians protests continued across the country on wednesday with reports of bullets being fired in the city of yangon and the u.s. head of homeland security has pushed back against republican criticism as he was questioned by a house committee over a rise of migrants to the southern border i 100 mayorkas said his department is working around the clock to manage the situation president joe biden's administration is struggling to accommodate a growing number of children crossing the border. well the stream is next discussing how the u.s. is handling that surge of child migrants.

i am femi oke a today on the stream we're looking at how the u.s. is tapping the 10s of thousands of my goods and asylum seekers helping arriving on its border with mexico thousands of them are children traveling by themselves i know you have a take on this you can join i shall be part of the discussion by jumping on out into the comment section you too can be in the story. that you know make up my guns typically come to the u.s. looking for opportunity looking for prospects the migration flow that we are seeing

from central america today is different it's desperate to migration for many of these migrants it's a mindset of life or death the united states show that increase its aid to central american countries to target the root causes of this migration which includes not just poverty but violence in all its forms on corruption including government corruption and impunity. that's just one take on the immigration situation in the united states you're about to hear 3 more camilla rachel really get happy that's a big in the stream camilla tell everybody who you are what you did kind of there are many myths from us i believe director at the central american research center architect and i'm going to work out what we're a community based organization the how to focus and organizing and legal in our

community organizing with you know organizing work around immigrant rights and on the legal side here pretty much any humanitarian day family be your normal and direct legal immigrant get to have a communique envy nice to see you tell the world what you did. thanks for me my name's congi i'm an attorney and researcher with human rights 1st and my research focuses on the facts of u.s. policy on asylum seekers and other people's you can protection in the united states and we advocated for the united states to uphold its domestic laws and its international treaty commitments to refugees good to see you thanks for joining us and rachael finally welcome to the show what do we need to know about you. and for having me my name is rachel schmitt key i'm the advocate for latin america at refugees international where a d.c. based organization and we advocate for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and i focus predominantly on central america and mexico yes i want

to show you 1st of all a quote that i saw this is from the department of homeland security and i want to share that with you and get your response from for the situation that u.s. is in right now so let's have a look at this as noted by the president in his executive order securing our borders does not require us to ignore the humanity of those who seek to cross them we are both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants it feels almost like this is really difficult on the one had . this is where we we want to history as a nation of immigrants immigrants on the other hand there are sounds of people on the u.s. border and would have a plan for them rachel what does this say to you when you saw this how does that help us understand what is happening right now. i agree that i think the united states we have the capacity to manage the situation and i think that we have the resources and i think that you know this is been painted in some ways as

a border crisis but at what i would really like to draw attention to is that i think the crisis is really what's going on in central america there's 200000 people that have been displaced by tropical storms or hurricanes and an iota you know thousands of children run very high risks of violence in these countries and many people are really leaving because of very desperate situations and i think that we in united states can welcome them it's a logistical challenge but i think really we look at the factors of why people are leaving it's for very very complicated reasons that usually related to poverty and violence as well as now the exacerbating affects the terrible situation of coping 1000 and climate change so really there is a lot going on these children are very desperate and i think that we have a moral responsibility to do something about it and and i do have confidence in the hope in the by administration that that will. go ahead. you know and if i can add i agree 100 percent with rachel and that there's not much of that issue you know but

i think that you just said that this is a country of immigrants but there's also the fact that the border we're not just a country and the ground we're a country who has historically said we are a country that protect those who are the most vulnerable where the country that welcomes and has a lot of like a firearm laws to protect refugees and protect their who are of a crime go like children like unaccompanied children and mike let me give family and so i'm pleased to see that the new am acting to director good i mean if america curity is acknowledging that there need to be something done at the border and i hope that the country continues to go in a direction of recognizing they these are individual people who need our protection and that we do have the scam going modern place to deal with them and to protect them thank you i talked about tens of thousands of migrants in asylum seekers at the us mexico border do you have a more specific idea of where the united states is with handling the numbers those

statistics because it looks like the u.s. is on record to have the highest number of like us in asylum seekers at the border in the past 20 s. what do you see what do you have. you know i just wanted to know that you know this is a really important shift in tone and what the administration is saying that it's going to respect u.s. laws and treatments to refugees but at the same time the government isn't living up to those statements because they continue trying to ministration policy blocking and expelling asylum seekers based on a false justification about public health and so at the moment we continue to see many many of us on seekers who are unable to seek protection in the united states and who are being expelled to mexico and to other countries so just to give one example of a family that our researchers recently spoke to. a haitian family who had sought

asylum in the united states they were expelled to haiti where they continued to face death threats and were forced to flee again and they're now back in soko into you on a hoping to seek asylum but the ports of entry that the entryway is the united states remain closed to asylum seekers and so they're there in mexico waiting in really grave dangers and those are the kinds of dangers that we've seen for years and years under the policies of the last administration that returned asylum seekers to mexico and that's what the biden administration unfortunately is continuing to do expose exilim seekers to really awful risks of kidnapping of rape of torture and worse we've seen asylum seekers turn back to mexico who've been murdered and hopefully that doesn't happen again and hopefully the mass ratio will unwind these policies quickly to restore refugee protection but it's really concerning to us that the secretary of homeland security the statement

that you just showed continues to say that the administration will turn away asylum seekers basically that the message is we are going to kick you out unless you're a child traveling by itself that way straight full of message let me just say this 15 rachael i'm going to play in lowering kathy nguyen to here because she picks up on something that you talked about which was climate change as a pool factor calling people into united states as have a listen to lee. you know kind of change is not being discussed enough with regard to the current situations of central america and especially old less so than gavi has by series of 1100 year hurricanes and while one in alexandria marries in the last and homes and other 4.6 noncompliant going to bursley fasted ahearn can either after us according to minimize even for international development as in us continue to debate i respond to the lies one company minus the boiler in the trash whole

iraqi with an understanding conscience which includes climate change on a change is going to force a model can lose hope roger america says rates right jill go ahead. i completely agree and i think when we look at the context of what's going on in central america it's compounding situations on top of each other so not only do you have you know longstanding issues of violence and poverty and corruption but now with these you know with climate change in the drug corridor people are facing drought there are claps are failing and then we have these tropical storms or hurricanes or other types of events it's leaving people in a in a very desperate situation where they don't necessarily have the resiliency mechanisms to be able to withstand something like this so one when a hurricane hits or when there's some sort of you know external event that governments there are not necessarily prepared to respond to that type of type of event and there's not the funding necessarily from the international community to respond to it either and so many people are left with very little option but to

leave where they're coming in but i think one thing i do want to mention as well with regards to unaccompanied children and families in general is that this isn't necessarily a new trend yes climate change is on the rise in these types of events are only going to continue to get worse but we've seen flows of people coming especially children since 2014 or before and so really i think it's a question of how do we start the more forward thinking in our responses how do we plan for climate change how do we address the changing demographics of particularly central american but not only central american migration in terms of families and children coming and i think that we need to be able to more forward looking and a little more. we could be more innovative i think in our policies. congi i want to call on your experience and knowledge of what's happening with youngsters and on the company of youngsters heading towards the united states but i'm going to do that by jennifer valdes jennifer makes this point about conditions and what it's

like right now he she is. the most concerning part of the current surge of unaccompanied minors is really that there's thousands of children being held now in the c.b.p. facilities past the legal the men you know our clients are telling us experiences of being held in her if it conditions and veggie cold temperatures sleeping on the floor little access to food on water and the reality is is that this isn't you know this is something advocates have been sounding the alarm is for years yet the conditions have not changed and we continue to hear the same stories over and over her client and today at. yeah it's really concerning children young children are being held in these border patrol facilities which are not meant to keep people for more than a few hours these are these are cells really and children don't belong at all and

that's why for years many advocates and human rights groups have been pushing for the united states to shift away from an enforcement policy a way of looking at the border as if it were a national security issue and to think more about this from the humanitarian lands to treat the children and families and adults who are arriving at our borders seeking refuge as people who need protection and not just people who should be sure jailed and treated as that's the united states so you know the bottom ministration is not is is unfortunately not able to move children out of those facilities as quickly as they should be but they have been taking steps they're moving in at least the right direction to make that happen more quickly let me just bring in some of the comments can we are going to start with you help us out to some of these questions from out what he wants. i just want the children out to be in a nontoxic price but he's only being $100.00 days referencing how long there's been

at biden administration can mean it does that make any difference to you and the what your doing. no it does not i hear that it's only been a 100 days of the biden administration but the problem and the treatment of these miners has existed long before the bad that penetration i've done this work i've got a fence and 2015 and since then there are reports of children saying how awful the conditions are and it's important to remember that these are children these are families these are people who clearly very clearly can describe to me the difference between how they're treated by customs and border patrol versus for example any company child to get transferred to the office of refugee resettlement there is a stark difference they all describe the same things and they have for years so while it has only been $100.00 days of the biden administration it's been much longer the children have been treated that way i don't like to acknowledge that

that the the treatment of these children starts at the border however it doesn't end there the children then come into the united states and that focus on them being children and human beings continues the problem at the border starts at the border but then what happens to the children once they're here what happened city families once they're here and so i hope another thing that i don't administration continue to start to focus more on is not just how these individuals and human beings are treated at the border but once they are processed what happened what support does the government give them and so if the question is about you know wanting the children to be and not toxic environment at the border that sentiment should carry on throughout their lives or their case and throughout the time that they are in the united states are deserving of protection and support. we should we should also talk about why children are arriving alone because that's the population of kids that we're talking about this is in kids who are with a parent or guardian these are kids who are by themselves and of course some

children are forced to flee their countries on their own and i've represented clients who are in the position where a family member had to flee and wasn't able to take all of all of their kids with them and so children had to leave later on their own but we also see the situation where families who arrive together at the border but who have been blocked now for over a year are so afraid of the dangers they may have already been kidnapped once they may be facing you know really imminent threats and they send their kids alone across the border that's happened a lot over the past year where families who are subjected to these policies that kept them out of the united states and forced them to wait in mexico just were so desperate that they sent their kids alone because it was the best option they had in an impossible situation and so that's one of the reasons why we're really pushing the biden ministration to stop this policy of blocking and expelling asylum seekers because it does also force parents of sensually to make this terrible

decision that the safest thing they can do is to send their child alone to the united states what happens to those. excuse me it's just you know anyone who's got young kids solid young nephews or any one that's the family that's trying to put themselves in and these my that she's i'm just saying what them what happens to the toll it's i've seen one idea that's come from the government which is if you're working in these facilities if you can look after the kids it's almost like can you be a foster karratha these kids that seems to me like it's not merging measure because they're all these kids by them selfs. yeah i mean most kids have some family member or a relative if not a parent in the united states who can eventually take custody and provide care for them and so the hope is that the administration can much more quickly move people through that system so those kids aren't in border patrol facilities for very long

they go to a state licensed facility and not some giant stadium or convention center that's also not an appropriate place for children but the other option would be that the entire family is able to seek protection together so that that separation doesn't have to happen can i go ahead. go ahead no worries and i would like i was just going to mention that you know the department of homeland security has within their discretion could do just that they have the authority of a band now to not separate families to keep family you know to gather and to keep them out of detention center out of the makeshift did you know can you mention the stadium the government already have the authority to do that and in our view there is no you or them knock you there bill why are they can say we are going to parole you into the country so that you can undergo your eye when proceeding in your court proceeding in a humane way with family members or with community members or with community

support and argue there is no reason that they should not arguing that immediately this is jackie gonzales rachid love you to hear her point i know you going to make one as well when you got your plane and make a point about jackie gonzalez because what i hear the challenges i hear the problems i'm not hearing the solutions and and jackie's bringing a couple haitian yes. so often politicians use the word crisis to describe what's happening at our border they do this to pursue their own political agenda and they end up turning migrants seeking protection into political pond the truth is we must challenge the system powering narrative the issue is not only in the federal domain state and local authorities have the power and responsibility to also provide resources to this population california is an example of a state that has done just that and also passed laws to protect the health and safety of migrants there are also many groups doing critical work across the border

to protect the rights of migrants ultimately we all have a role to play in finding humane and just solutions to this. guy have rachel. i agree with what jackie said and i think i'd like to just zoom out a little bit to also talk about i've encountered many many children in north and central american countries who do mention you know have family in the united states often parents are a direct family member and i think when we're looking towards solutions there's there are some programs that were under the obama administration that got canceled under trauma that are now being reinstated like one called the central american miners program which essentially allows children who have a parent who's lawfully in the united states and who meet the humanitarian protection criteria to apply for asylum and be reunited with their families without having to make that dangerous journey north without having to go and present themselves at the border and so this is an example of a policy that we could implement that would be that would be helpful and protect

children you know particularly as children face very serious concerns when they're in route if that actually they pay a smuggler or something like that and so this is the type of program we could we should expand upon under the obama administration that was limited in its scope but if we could expand upon that that is the type of solution oriented response that looks at the problem and tries to protect children as best we can and so i think that there are many other solutions that i'm sure you know and kenji have but that's just one type of thing that united states could do i would like. you rachel to help me out with some of the you tube comments and questions that have come from because of the show that we're doing right now. this is for you community why can't my quince legally come to this country in the 1st place as me am i suggesting that the only off the handouts that's a push back on the idea of this being a humanitarian situation. very speedy response back. ok

1st and foremost speaking a firearm is a legal right it is. country and so if i don't figure out are not breaking the law by trying to apply for a firearm enter into a bedroom of the action that all of the if i am at the theater and are trying to undergo a legal procedure that they i have the right to know under the law of the united states under the law multiple agencies that deal with human rights and so what these individuals are doing is in a legal but i. am preventing themselves at the border and seeking the protection that the legal mechanism and that is a form of legal immigration cellette me. yet i had to i just want to jump in very quickly and also say asylum seekers are not entitled to practically any support whatsoever from the u.s. government so there are no handouts for asylum seekers the only thing they can do

when they get here after they file their asylum application is wait 6 months before they can then become eligible for a work permit which often takes many many months who arrive so asylum seekers essentially no handouts that's just not the case thank you for clarifying that let me give this one to you south as well right i don't want to spend the whole of the rest of ash i was called but what i hear you i hate you never just get this one to . south south as they should be for the migrants asylum seekers the ship be immediate relief food shelter medical care what she to the children because they're already in the united states pension thoughts that about like. you know that would be absolutely a part of the humanitarian response to refugees arriving on our border and that's something that we think the federal government should be responsible for unfortunately at the moment or i guess luckily there are many private groups and many religious oriented groups many catholic shelters that have stepped up to

provide that kind of shelter and food and medical care but really we think that should be part of a federal welcome for people who are seeking safety in our country and we should mention that today's anniversary of the refugee act which is the law that created this pathway for asylum seekers that comes to the united states and we've had that now for more than 40 years so you know these are that's an important part of protections for asylum seekers is also treating them like human beings i've got one minute left i'm going to give you a question in a minute this is from liz rainey this is for you rachel one of the many things the u.s. has to do is change its relationship with latin america stop calling it a back yard right. i agree i think we need to look at latin america and particularly civil society organizations in that region as our partners you know it's welcoming to see the president biden has the support really

in dollar plan to invest in the region but i think. aid is a wonderful thing to do it's a lot of term solution and we need to look at the current situation and provide protection because in the short term people who want to need to leave their home countries because of the dire conditions that they're facing at home and again we have we can welcome people of the united states but i think we it is important to have a good relationship particularly with civil society in latin america absolutely look at brain trust on us immigration so brilliant thank you kenji and thank you community thank you rachael you can follow them here have a look at my laptop came to me on twitter rachel on twitter. on twitter thanks for watching thank you for your comments your questions always appreciated. in this episode of the strong.

most clear. after egypt's revolution that passion turned into something much bigger .

has 0 world. and it's time for a different approach one that is going to challenge the way you think on asking the questions now is the new host of the next season of the show that's got no space for sound bites only carbon to the list leave simplicity to the headlines join me as i take on the lies dismantle the misconceptions and debate the contradiction. marc lamont hill and it's time to get up front right here on out of the. latest news as it breaks with schools continuously being targeted just pressured in northern parts of nigeria going up here that we do translate highest rates of problems before people farther behind with detailed coverage of the scenario the not for recent campaign was temporarily suspended because there weren't enough back feed from around the world these volunteers won't be routinely tested to instead

they'll be getting regular blood samples. be the hero the world needs. washing. i know i'm maria minimizing in london with our main story this hour now hundreds of millions of europeans could be able to travel around the continent from this summer if an app on the small phone shows they've been vaccinated proposed by the e.u. commission the digital green pos means freedom of movement being restored from june but some think the plan is too slow in the wild health organization opposes the idea because much of the world is far behind on backs and nations well in other developments the european union has threatened to ban eggs.