The Biden administration’s plans to impose more restrictions on those seeking asylum in the United States, according to the UNHCR, are “not in line with refugee law standards.”
Reports claim that if migrants enter the country illegally from Mexico, the reforms will prevent them from requesting asylum in the United States.
However, Biden added that up to 30,000 people per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela could enter the country legally if they fulfil a number of requirements, such as locating a sponsor and proving they can afford a plane ticket.
While the UN agency welcomed the expanded safe and regular pathways for entry to the U.S. for some, according to UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov, the new measures “must not preclude people forced to flee from exercising their fundamental human right to seek safety.”
Due to the “multi-faceted” nature of the Administration’s announcement, UNHCR is seeking additional details and analysing the likely impact of the measures, Cheshirkov said, which would enable an “unprecedented number of people” from the four nationalities to enter.
In addition to considering the well-being of thousands already on the move from Latin and Central America, the agency raised its concern over the expansion of the controversial COVID pandemic emergency “Title 42” health restrictions order, to expel Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans without weighing the dangers they were fleeing or the risks and hardships many of them will face in Mexico.
UNHCR had made continuous calls for it to be lifted. The issue has provoked a major court battle in the U.S., with the Supreme Court ruling at the end of December that the policy allowing migrants to be turned away at the border on health grounds should remain for now.
“What we are reiterating is that this is not in line with refugee law standards and that to establish a link between safe and legal pathways which have been announced.
“We welcome the expansion of those on one side that are accessible for some people with curtailment for the right to seek asylum for many more who are ineligible for these pathways,” Cheshirkov said.
UNHCR will continue to engage with the U.S. and other Governments, to expand safe pathways and develop protection and solutions for asylum seekers – in line with international standards, the spokesperson said.