Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 June 2018
54. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has raised concerns with the Government of the United States of America regarding the separation of children from their parents and the detention of vulnerable children in cages at the US-Mexican border; his views on whether this violates children's and human rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27900/18]
View answer74. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the representations he has made with the Government of the United States of America in relation to its policy to separate minors from their immigrant parents; his views on whether this is a breach of human rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28023/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 74 together.
I was appalled by the images which recently emerged of immigrant children being separated from their parents at the southern US border and held in detention by the US authorities.
I made my, and the Government’s, view of this policy very clear when I spoke on June 20 last week in the course of the Dáil debate on this issue.
I stated in the course of that debate that the policy of separating children from their parents was inhumane and simply wrong, and I urged the US Government to immediately reverse the policy.
Ireland, in common with all member States of the European Union, has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which establishes clear universal standards for protecting all children. The Convention states that signatories shall ensure that children shall not be separated from their parents against their will, unless such a separation is necessary for the best interests of the child.
As I stated in my contribution to the Dáil debate, I cannot see any way in which a policy of separating children from their parents in such circumstances could be said to be in the best interests of children.
In advance of the June 20th Dáil debate, I spoke that afternoon with the Chargée d’Affaires in the US Embassy in Dublin, Mr. Reece Smyth, and conveyed to him the Government’s strong views on the issue. He undertook to convey those views without delay to the relevant authorities in Washington, D.C.
I was pleased to see that, following the grave concerns which were expressed both domestically and internationally about this policy, President Trump signed an Executive Order on the afternoon of June 20th , Washington, D.C., time, aimed at ending the practice of separation. I welcome this move towards a more humane practice of border protection and immigration control.
I very much hope that we have seen the last of this practice and the priority now must be reuniting all of the affected children with their parents, without delay.
