10,000 migrant kids interned in the US

Children in a tent camp in Pakistan. Photo: Pixabay.com

10,000 kids interned in large centres in the US

Nearly 10,000 foreign children are housed in major detention and reception centres in the United States, according to the news agency AP.

 

Since many children and adolescents were previously traumatised after being placed in large institutions, the practice was terminated in the United States decades ago. Now it happens again, Associated Press (AP) writes.

The news agency has obtained figures showing that the US authorities houses about 14,300 migrant children in detention centres, other institutions or in foster homes.

9,800 are placed in different detention centres, with at least one hundred children each. Of these, 5,400 live in centres where the number of children is at least one thousand. The largest centre is located in Tornillo, Texas, where around 2,745 teens are detained in large tents.

According to AP, the figures apply to children and adolescents who have been locked up in centres and institutions for almost all of the time during the last 20 months. The information on how many children who are placed in different centres and institutions have so far been inadequate.

Increased a lot

The number of children under the supervision of US authorities has increased considerably in recent years. Three months after President Donald Trump came to power in 2016, 2,720 migrant children were placed in various smaller shelters.

The age of the children varies between 0 and 17 years. A large majority has crossed the border to the United States under their own steam, but some were separated from their families at the border earlier this year.

Read also this CNN article on the issue.

The situation in Norway

Norway ended its practice of interning families with children at Trandum last year. That scheme applied to families who were waiting to be transported out of Norway after their asylum applications are rejected. A tiny group of lone children are occasionally placed in reception centres while waiting to be placed in foster homes.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today