Macron backs sanctions on EU states that refuse migrants US family reunification 'task force' seen as Dems keep up pressure

Macron backs sanctions on EU states that refuse migrants

POOL/AFP / Thibault CamusFrench President Emmanuel Macron addresses a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at The Elysee Palace in Paris on June 23, 2018

French President Emmanuel Macron came out Saturday in support of financial sanctions against EU countries which refuse to accept migrants.

"We can not have countries that benefit hugely from EU solidarity and claim national self-interest when it comes to the issue of migrants," he said at a press conference in Paris alongside Spain's new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

"I am in favour of sanctions being imposed in the event of no cooperation," he said.

Reacting to Macron's comments, Italy's co-deputy prime minister and head of the populist M5S party, Luigi Di Maio accused the French leader of being totally oblivious to the scale of the problem.

"Macron's statements on the fact that there is no migration crisis in Italy show that he is completely out of touch with reality. Evidently, the previous Italian governments told him that the problem did not exist...," he said on Facebook.

"In Italy, the immigration emergency... is also fuelled by France with its constant rejections at the border. Macron is making his country a candidate to become Italy's number one enemy on this," he said.

Far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini also reacted furiously in remarks reported by Italian media.

"Six-hundred-and-fifty thousand landings in four years, 430,000 applications..., 170,000 apparent refugees currently housed in hotels, buildings and apartments at a cost exceeding five billion euros.

"If for the arrogant President Macron this is not a problem, we invite him to stop the insults and to demonstrate generosity by opening the many French ports and ceasing to push back women, children and men to Ventimiglia."

On the eve of a mini-summit about the divisive migration issue, Macron and Sanchez also declared support for the creation of closed reception centres where migrants would be held while their asylum claims are considered.

The centres would be set up near to where migrants often arrive first in Europe.

"Once on European soil, we are in favour of setting up closed centres in accordance with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)... so that each country takes people who are entitled to asylum in an organised way," Macron said.

There are currently no closed migrant centres where applications are processed, with the exception of a few cases in Greece and Italy managed by the UNHCR.

For migrants not entitled to asylum, they should be returned directly to their country of origin and not via other countries, Macron added.

US family reunification 'task force' seen as Dems keep up pressure

AFP / Eric BARADATActivists gather outside the White House to protest children being separated from their families at the US-Mexico border

A US task force has been set up to reunify migrant families divided at the Mexican border under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" approach, a report said, as opposition Democrats on Saturday kept up the pressure against a "barbaric" policy.

Trump on Wednesday ordered an end to the family separations which have sparked domestic and global outrage, but the fate of the more than 2,300 separated children remains unclear.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar issued an order Friday to create the reunification task force, the Politico website reported, citing an internal document it had obtained.

Reflecting the breadth and complexity of the challenge, the document orders the department's preparedness and response office -- which deals with emergencies and public health disasters -- to assist its refugee resettlement office with the effort.

Politico quoted HHS spokesperson Evelyn Stauffer as saying that Azar was "bringing to bear all the relevant resources of the department in order to assist in the reunification or placement of unaccompanied alien children and teenagers with a parent or appropriate sponsor."

The department did not immediately respond to an AFP request for confirmation.

In an effort to staunch the flow of tens of thousands of migrants from Central America and Mexico arriving at the southern boundary every month, Trump in early May had ordered that all those crossing the border illegally would be arrested, and their children held separately as a result.

In an about-face, he then ordered an end the splitting up of parents and children, saying it was administration policy to "maintain family unity... where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources."

"I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated," he said.

- Protests continue -

About 500 children have already been reunited with family members, CNN reported, quoting border officials.

Democratic lawmakers kept up the pressure Saturday, with roughly two dozen of them again visiting a detention facility where children are being held.

Jackie Speier, a California congresswoman, toured the facility in McAllen, Texas with the group. In a televised news conference, she said she saw children "under the age of five who were segregated from their parents and were crying... They're in cells and in cages."

Another California congresswoman, Barbara Lee, added: "The children especially are traumatized," and she called the Trump administration's immigration policy "barbaric."

Protest marches were scheduled this weekend in several cities, and advocacy groups including the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union are calling for a nationwide "Families Belong Together" protest on June 30.

The biggest demonstration is planned for Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House.

- Housing on military bases -

It remains unclear how quickly reunifications can be carried out. Lawyers working to bring families back together said they were struggling through a labyrinthine process -- while more migrants continue to arrive.

Nearly all of the arriving families have officially requested asylum, citing the high levels of violence in their home countries.

The Pentagon is making contingency plans to house thousands of arrivals on US military bases. Defense Department officials said as many as 20,000 could be sheltered on bases in Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico if need be.

The separations have reportedly sparked intense debate even within the White House, leaving widespread confusion about the road forward.

But Trump has remained unapologetic, accusing his political rivals of exaggerating the problem for political gain.

"Open Borders Democrats... just want everyone to be released into our country no matter how dangerous they are," he said in his weekly address Saturday, again trying to link immigrants with crime.

"They can be killers, they can be thieves, they can be horrible people -- the Democrats say it's okay for them to be in our country. I don't think so."

In an earlier tweet, Trump accused Democrats of telling "phony stories of sadness and grief, hoping it will help them in the elections."

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