statements that it is made including president van dillen herself who has said that there should not be restrictions on companies when they are fulfilling contractual responsibilities of course there should not and we fully expect those contracts to be delivered on because there are very significant consequences to contract law attorney is set to swear in its 1st female leader after the death of president john foley officials say the 61 year old suffered a heart failure but opposition leaders said he was sick with covered 90 the us secretary of state says all options are on the table to get north korea to abandon its nuclear weapons speaking in seoul anthony blinken added china has a critical role to play. but lincoln meet senior chinese officials in alaska later on thursday will be the 1st discussions since the biden ministration took office in january and it comes just after the u.s. sanctioned an additional $24.00 chinese and hong kong officials for what it says is beijing's crackdown on political freedoms in the territory we have mars military has charged the deposed government's u.n. envoy with high treason your mo tun was fired a day after speaking at the un general assembly last month and calling for help to remove the army from power at least 30 people have been killed in a tour a province in democratic republic of congo an army spokesperson says the codec and militia is responsible cuse the government of failing to respect their demobilization agreement 11 civilians are among the dead. understate the moral service has been held for south africa's zulu king good rules bill athenia was buried in a private ceremony earlier on thursday he died last week at the age of 72 after being in hospital for weeks to treat diabetes. so those were the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after the stream states have done so much of. what should americans be thinking and doing right now it should be a bad idea they don't care about their work is all they care about is making money china is not going to be left out of the calling for the bloated defense budget to be kind of the bottom line on u.s. politics and policies and they're affecting the world just their own. i am femi oke a day on the stream we're looking at how the u.s. is tapping the 10s of thousands of my goods and asylum seekers as company 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 you tube and into the comment section and you too can be in the story. that you know make of migrants typically come to the u.s. looking for opportunity looking for prospects the migration flow of the work we are saying from central america today is different it's desperate to migration for many of these migrants it's a matter of life or death the united states should increase its aid to central american countries to target the road courses 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 came in rachel really good to have the thanks of being in the stream came into tell everybody who you are what you today. however i made a mistake i believe all director are both central american research center architect and i'm going to work out what we are community based organization the how to focus organizing and legal in our communities organizing we do organizing work around immigrant rights and on the legal side you're pretty much any humanitarian family be your middle and direct legal cover with immigrant get to have a communique nice to see tell the world what you did thanks i mean my name is ken i'm an attorney and researcher with human rights 1st and my research focuses on the effects of u.s. policy on asylum seekers and other people seeking 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 as well we need to know about you. thanks 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 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's almost like this is really difficult on the one had. this is we we want to acknowledge a history as a nation of immigrants immigrants on the other hand there are sounds of people on the u.s. border would have applied 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 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 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 very very complicated reasons that are usually related to poverty and violence as well as the exacerbating effect 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 the ministration 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 border we're not just a country of any ground where a country who has historically said we are a country that protect those who are the most vulnerable where the country that welcomed and had a lot of like a fine lot of to protect refugees and protect there who are the program goals like children like unaccompanied children and mike let me be family and so i'm pleased to see that the new am acting to director good i mean to come epicurious 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 this damn good modern place to deal with them and to protect them kenji 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 say 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 asylum 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 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 sokoto into you on a hoping to seek asylum but the ports of entry the entry ways 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 immiseration 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 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 a self that was straight full of message let me just say this 50 rachael i'm going to play in lowering kathy yet to here because she picks up on something that you talked about which was climate change as a pool fad to pulling people into united states as have a listen to. you know a little climate change is not being discussed enough with regard to the current situations of water central america and especially old less so than gavi has by series of 1100 year hurricanes and while one in alexandra american the lost their homes and others 4.6 nonconformist inadvertently 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 mine is the boiler in the trash whole iraqi with an understanding conscience which includes climate change on a change is going to force them of all working leads to country on america's roots 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 particular 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 sleepy 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 or little access to who don't 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 crying and today at. yeah it's really concerning children young children are being held in the u.s. 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 a think more about this from the humanitarian ones 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 threats 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 our comments can we are going to start with you help us out to some of these questions from out way it's how do i just want the children adults 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 and 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 to the 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 were 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 were 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 administration to stop this policy of blocking and expelling asylum seekers because it does also force parents essential 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 what. it's just you know anyone who's got young kids solid young nephews or any one those that try to put themselves in and these michael she isn't just saying what and what happens to the toilets 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 force to karratha these kids that seems to me i can't see that merchants measure because they're all these kids by them selfs. you know 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 they go ahead. no way and i would like that as a governmental and that you know the department of homeland security has within their discretion could do just that they have the authority advocate and 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 and you mentioned the a.t.m. the government already have the authority to do that and in our view there is no you or them knock you. off they can say we are going to parole you into the country so that you can undergo your own proceedings and 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 raich i'd love you to hear her point i know you going to make one as well when you write your plain and make a point about jackie gonzalez because what i hear the challenges i hear the problems i'm not hearing the solutions are and jackie's playing a couple a shifts. 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 the truth is we must challenge this disempowering 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 i have right. 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 or 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 they actually 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. in the country and so if i don't figure out are not breaking the law by trying to apply for a firearm enter into a veteran of the action that all of the if i remember are trying to undergo a legal procedure that they have the right to know under the law of the united states under the law multiple agencies that gillick human rights and so what these individuals are doing is in a legal. preventing themselves at the border and seeking the protection that the legal mechanism and a form of legal immigration cellette me oh yes 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 asho more on call but what i hear you i hate and i want to get this one. south south says that they should be for the migrants asylum seekers the ship be immediate relief food shelter medical care especially to the children because they are waiting in the united states pension thoughts that about one. 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 you should mention that today is the anniversary of the refugee act which is the law that created this pathway for asylum seekers to come to the united states and we've had that now for more than 40 years so you know these are this is 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 camille and thank you rachael you can follow them here have a look at my laptop came to me on twitter rachel on twitter. thanks for watching thank you for your comments your questions always appreciate and in this episode of the strong. israelis a bracing for a 4th election in 2 years benjamin netanyahu is facing a new set of challenges with a new message vote for the man who brought the vaccine to be enough to secure israel's longest serving prime minister a decisive win. join us for special coverage of the israeli election on al-jazeera . frank assessments the world is on the brink of. that model saying we have is that a fair assessment you catastrophic hialeah to weiss valuable backseat informed opinions should we be buying big calling ultimately it will be sovereigns and governments who are buying this so that is the direction this is all headed in-depth analysis of the day school ople headlines the inside story on our. the protests started cheerfully in front of the x. museum in amsterdam hundreds of protesters gathered to demand the government is lockdown restrictions and lift a curfew the 1st in the country since world war 2 the threat is that we use our freedoms to protesters who are not following social distancing rules who will be to be ordered to disperse by police but police are trying very hard to call friends a scenario that happened last week and thousands were rioting in cities across the land. after some protesters started throwing stones at letting off fireworks police on horseback moved in to clear the area. a young girl. before a lot of bias wendy kept up this indication. when we have this opportunity to. the limit so the young girls all through secondary school with us ought to be able to stay employed but that's one thing that able to change. meet the women in ghana who are going places when it comes to education women make change on outers if. you're. this is al jazeera. hello i'm right about the sun and this is the news our live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes the u.s. and chinese officials are on their way to alaska for their 1st face to face talks since president joe biden came to office. a meeting in moscow puts russia back at the center of afghanistan's peace process.