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Independent experts alarmed by child rights violations in US immigration procedures

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Thousands of children remain in custody without access to legal counsel; a situation the experts warn is forcing minors to navigate complex immigration proceedings alone and undermining their fundamental rights.  

The three Special Rapporteurs, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, said they are in contact with the US Government on the issue. 

Duty to care 

They explained that under the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), the US Office of Refugee Resettlement is responsible for the care and custody of unaccompanied children.  

The law requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to protect children from mistreatment, exploitation and trafficking in persons.  

It also guarantees that unaccompanied children in federal custody have access to legal counsel and should not be subjected to expedited removal – that is, deportation without a court hearing. 

Legal support ended 

The experts noted, however, that on 18 February 2025, the US Department of the Interior ordered nonprofit legal service providers to halt work and ended funding for attorneys representing unaccompanied children.  

Although the development has been challenged in the courts, many of the 26,000 affected children lost legal counsel and remain at risk of forced removal.  

Reports indicate that young migrants are being held in windowless cells, denied adequate medical care and separated from their parents or caregivers for long periods. 

In fact, between January and August 2025, average custody time rose from roughly one month to six, while releases to family caregivers dropped by more than half: from approximately 95 per cent to 45 per cent. 

Pressured or paid to self-deport 

“There have been consistent accounts of unlawful deportations of unaccompanied children, in breach of the obligation of non-refoulement, including child victims of trafficking, and children at risk of trafficking in persons,” the independent experts said.  

Children have been reportedly pressured to either accept a $2,500 cash payment to self-deport or face indefinite detention and transfer to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody upon turning 18. 

 The experts stressed that children should have access to administrative and judicial remedies against decisions affecting their own situation, or that of their parents or caregivers. 

Measures should be taken also to avoid undue procedural delays that could negatively affect their rights. 

 “Expedited proceedings should only be pursued when they are consistent with the child’s best interests and without restricting any due process guarantees,” they said. 

Independent voices 

The three Special Rapporteurs receive separate mandates from the UN Human Rights Council to report on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; the human rights of migrants, and the independence of judges and lawyers. 

They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work. 

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South Sudan: UN and rights experts warn against risk of mass violence in Jonglei

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UNMISS expressed grave concern following reports that a senior military leader is urging troops to inflict discriminate violence against civilians, with more than 180,000 people fleeing their homes.  

“Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians, including the most vulnerable, is utterly abhorrent and must stop now,” Graham Maitland, Officer in Charge, said on Sunday. 

Ongoing hostilities 

South Sudan – the world’s youngest country – gained independence in July 2011 but soon slid into civil war with fighting between forces loyal to either President Salva Kiir or the main opposition leader, First Vice President Riek Machar. 

Despite a 2018 peace agreement and the establishment of a transitional unity government, clashes and tensions persist. 

UNMISS said communities in Jonglei and other locations are suffering immense harm from the escalating conflict, including direct military confrontations between forces. 

Put people first 

Although South Sudan’s leaders continue to underline their commitment to peace, hostilities and violations of the ceasefire continue unabated. 

The Mission urged leaders to put the interests of the people first by stopping the fighting and upholding their commitments under the peace agreement. 

“This includes returning to consensus-based decision-making, adhering to power-sharing arrangements, and agreeing on a path to peacefully end the transitional period through inclusive dialogue,” said Mr. Maitland. 

‘Risk of mass violence’ 

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan expressed grave alarm over the situation in Jonglei, saying the inflammatory rhetoric by senior military figures and reports of force mobilisation “significantly heighten the risk of mass violence against civilians and further erode the peace agreement.” 

Members noted that under international law, military and civilian leaders who incite crimes or who exercise effective control over forces may be held criminally responsible.   

Furthermore, those who fail to prevent or punish crimes they knew about – or should have known were being committed – are equally criminally liable.  

Dangerous words 

“Language that calls for the killing of those who are hors de combat (no longer participating in hostilities) and civilians, including the elderly – with assertions that ‘no one should be spared’ – is not only shocking, it is profoundly dangerous,” said Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission. 

“In South Sudan’s past, such rhetoric has preceded mass atrocities. When such language is issued or tolerated by those in positions of command, it signals permission to commit violence and removes any expectation of restraint.”  

The current escalation is not an isolated incident, but part of a wider political breakdown, the Commission said. This is being driven by sustained violations of the peace deal and the erosion of command discipline in an already volatile and ethnically fractured environment. 

Appeal for de-escalation 

“When senior figures issue reckless or violent rhetoric, or fail to counter it decisively, they lower the threshold for abuses and send a signal that restraint no longer applies,” Commissioner Barney Afako said. 

“The mobilisation of forces in this context, coupled with ethnicised messaging, risks triggering a spiral of retaliatory violence that could rapidly escalate beyond control.” 

The Commission called for all parties to immediately cease inflammatory rhetoric and force mobilisation to de-escalate tensions. 

Furthermore, as Commander-in-Chief, President Kiir bears a heightened duty to exercise effective control over forces. Other senior officials such as the Chief of Defence Forces and the Minister of Defence also share in this duty. 

Avert a catastrophe 

The Commission also called on South Sudan’s regional and international partners to urgently re-engage to preserve the peace deal and press leaders to return to the political path. 

Failure to do so risks an all-out ethnic conflict and another preventable tragedy, they said. 

“This crisis is not inevitable,” Ms. Sooka insisted. “Leadership, restraint and accountability can still avert catastrophe. But deliberate incitement and the abuse of command authority will have consequences, and the window to act is closing fast.” 

About the Commission 

The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan was first established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2016, and its mandate has been renewed annually. 

The three commissioners who serve are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. 

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Momentum builds towards marine biodiversity treaty, as experts convene in New York

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Formally titled the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, it was adopted in June 2023 after years of negotiation, and is open for signature until 20 September.

With only eight ratifications left before it can enter into force, momentum is accelerating toward the treaty’s implementation phase, which could begin as early as 2026.

Urgent, ‘decisive and concerted action’

By covering marine genetic resources, environmental impact assessments, area-based management tools, and the transfer of marine technology, the treaty is central to protecting the ocean.

“The need for decisive and concerted action has never been more urgent,” UN Legal Counsel Elinor Hammarskjöld told delegates at the opening of the session.

From rules of participation and financing to digital access and institutional hosting, negotiators face complex trade-offs.

But the sense of urgency, and the crowded rooms at UN Headquarters, suggested that the international community is edging closer to turning text into reality.

Recalling the 2025 UN Ocean Conference held in Nice in June, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, Ms. Hammarskjöld said that it reaffirmed the essential role of multilateralism in addressing the pressures putting marine ecosystems at risk.  

Further, the 39 treaty actions by States from all regions undertaken during the Ocean Conference demonstrated the international community’s strong commitment to conserve and sustainably use the ocean and its resources.

Now, “with the real probability of the first Conference of the Parties to the Agreement convening in 2026, we are at a critical juncture”, she stated.

That urgency was echoed by the Commission’s Co-Chair Janine Coye-Felson, who said that “if the momentum bolstered by the third United Nations Oceans Conference, held in Nice in June this year, sustains, it can be reasonably expected that the Agreement may enter into force in the latter part of 2025, or early 2026”.

Indigenous Peoples as rights-holders

During the session’s early debates, small island developing States (SIDS) pressed for flexibility, including virtual participation and guaranteed representation in the COP Bureau.

The representative of the Federated States of Micronesia, speaking for the Pacific small island developing States, also supported the allocation of one seat to small island developing States.  

Further, he called for recognition of “the distinct status of Indigenous Peoples under international law as rights-holders, rather than as mere stakeholders”. 

Financing and equity

Developing States, represented by groups including the G77 and China, the African Group, CARICOM and Pacific SIDS, stressed that participation funding shall not be optional but an obligation under the treaty, and called for a voluntary trust fund to cover the full expenses of delegates from least developed countries, landlocked states – and SIDS – while opposing restrictions on states in arrears.

‘Clearing house’

As entry into force approaches, delegates turned to operational issues. A proposed Clearing-House Mechanism will serve as the treaty’s central hub for information exchange.

“There is perhaps no more urgent piece of work that is in front of us than this one,” underscored Commission Co-Chair Adam McCarthy at one of the meetings.

Given the current rate of ratification, “we might need a form of Clearing-House Mechanism in operation sometime in early 2026”, he pointed out, encouraging delegates to work towards having the informal expert group “up and running” to start its work by September.

With 139 signatures and 52 ratifications already secured, the treaty is within reach of the 60 needed for entry into force.

The gathering will continue at UN Headquarters until 29 August.

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DR Congo: Human rights violations could amount to war crimes, UN experts say

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Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council that the investigation and analysis undertaken by his office, OHCHR, had revealed “an apparent total disregard for the protection of civilians during and after military operations.”

The OHCHR’s Fact-Finding Mission in the eastern DRC is also investigating other alleged violations of international humanitarian law, “many of which may amount to war crimes,” he said.  

Arbitrary Arrests

After capturing cities and villages in early 2025, the M23 Rwanda-backed rebels arbitrarily arrested police officers and large numbers of other civilians, including children, the UN human rights office reported.  

According to witnesses, those captured were, and are, still being held in “inhumane conditions,” and many were forcibly recruited into the ranks of the M23.  

The Mission is also investigating alleged arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of suspected M23 supporters by the military intelligence arm of the DRC armed forces.  

Extrajudicial Killings

OHCHR also reported that members of the M23 carried out summary and extrajudicial executions, which likely amount to war crimes, said Mr. Türk.  

The Mission is also investigating alleged summary executions by members of the DRC armed forces and DRC-backed Wazalendo militias.  

UN human rights is also investigating reports of death threats, detention and other reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists, and members of civil society perceived as critical of the M23; including the alleged killings of at least two activists.  

Sexual Violence

The Mission received reports of “horrific” use of sexual violence by all parties as a means of reprisal against communities, relatives of perceived opponents, and people from other ethnic groups, said Mr. Türk.  

In North and South Kivu, nearly 40 per cent of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are children. The UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) estimated that during the most intense phase of the conflict, a child was raped every 30 minutes.  

Mr. Türk called on “all parties to the conflict to commit immediately to a ceasefire and resume negotiations, and to respect international humanitarian and human rights law.” 

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‘Plenty of fish in the sea’? Not anymore, say UN experts in Nice

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As yachts bobbed gently and delegates streamed by in a rising tide of lanyards and iPads at Port Lympia, Nice’s historic harbor, that statistic sent a ripple through the summit’s third day – a stark reminder that the world’s oceans are under growing pressure from overfishing, climate change, and unsustainable management.

Presented dockside at a press conference by Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the report offered a detailed global snapshot of how human activity is steadily draining the ocean – and how sound management can bring it back.

“To use a banking comparison,” Mr. Barange told UN News in an interview ahead of the report’s launch, “we are extracting more than the interest the bank gives us. We are depleting the populations.”

The “Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2025,” which draws on data from 2,570 marine fish stocks – the widest scope used by FAO yet – paints a complex picture: while over a third of stocks are being overexploited, 77 per cent of fish consumed globally still come from sustainable sources thanks to stronger yields from well-managed fisheries.

“Management works,” Mr. Barange said. “We know how to rebuild populations.”

Assistant Director-General Manuel Barange, of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), unveiled the agency’s report on the world’s fish stocks.

A global patchwork

Regional disparities remain stark. In the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada, over 90 per cent of stocks are sustainably fished. In Australia and New Zealand, the figure exceeds 85 per cent. The Antarctic – governed by strict international regulations – reports 100 per cent sustainability.

But along northwest Africa’s coast, from Morocco to the Gulf of Guinea, over half of all stocks are overfished, with little sign of recovery. The Mediterranean               Seas fare even worse: 65 per cent of stocks there are unsustainable. Yet there is a positive sign – the number of boats going out to fish in that region has declined by nearly a third over the past decade, offering hope that policy shifts are beginning to take effect.

For Mr. Barange, the lesson is clear: where management systems exist – and are backed by resources – stocks recover.

But science-based management is expensive. “Some regions can’t afford the infrastructure needed for control and monitoring, the science needed, the institutions needed,” he said.

“We need to build up capacity for the regions that are not doing so well. Not to blame them, but to understand the reasons why they are not doing so well and support them in rebuilding their populations.”

From collapse to comeback

Perhaps the clearest example of recovery may be tuna. Once on the brink, the saltwater fish has made a remarkable comeback. Today, 87 per cent of major tuna stocks are sustainably fished, and 99 per cent of the global market comes from those stocks.

“This is a very significant turnaround,” Mr. Barange said. “Because we have taken management seriously, we have set up monitoring systems, we set up management systems, compliance systems.”

The full findings in the FAO’s new report are likely to shape policy discussions far beyond Nice. The agency has worked closely with 25 regional fisheries-management organizations to promote accountability and reform, and Mr. Barange believes the model is replicable – if the political will holds.

Fish, livelihoods, and the blue economy

Countries were reported to have finalized negotiations over the political declaration expected to be adopted on Friday at the close of UNOC3, as the conference in known. The statement will form part of the Nice Ocean Action Plan and is intended to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – the 2022 agreement to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030.

As the heat climbed once again over the stone quays of Nice – a city perched in one of Europe’s most climate-vulnerable regions – sustainable fisheries took center stage inside the conference halls. Action panels focused on supporting small-scale fishers and advancing inclusive ocean economies, with delegates exploring how to align conservation goals with social equity – especially in regions where millions depend on fishing for survival.

‘We’re not apart from the ocean – we’re a part of it’ – FAO’s Manuel Barange

“There are 600 million people worldwide who depend on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods,” Mr. Barange said. “In some countries, aquatic animals are the main source of protein. We’re not apart from the ocean – we’re a part of it.”

As the conference moves into its final stretch, FAO’s warning shines like a beacon: one-third of the world’s fish stocks remain under too much pressure. But the data also offer something that can be elusive in the climate and biodiversity space – evidence that recovery is possible.

Three days in, the FAO report underscores a central message voiced by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on Monday, as he opened the summit: recovery is still within reach.

“What was lost in a generation,” he said, “can return in a generation.”

Scam centres are a ‘human rights crisis’, independent experts warn

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It’s believed that hundreds of thousands of trafficked individuals of various nationalities are forced to carry out fraud in the centres located across Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia.

“The situation has reached the level of a humanitarian and human rights crisis,” said right experts Tomoya Obokata, Siobhán Mullally and Vitit Muntarbhorn. They stressed that thousands of released victims remain stranded in inhumane conditions at the Myanmar-Thailand border.

The underground operations are often linked to criminal networks that recruit victims globally, putting them to work in facilities principally in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia.  

Many victims are kidnapped and sold to other fraudulent operations, said the rights experts who are known as Special Rapporteurs, reporting to the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff and work in an independent capacity.

They noted that workers are not freed unless a ransom is paid by their families and that if they try to escape, they are often tortured or killed with total impunity and with corrupt government officials complicit.  

“Once trafficked, victims are deprived of their liberty and subjected to torture, ill treatment, severe violence and abuse including beatings, electrocution, solitary confinement and sexual violence,” the Special Rapporteurs said.

‘Address the drivers of cyber-criminality’

The rights experts added that access to food and clean water is limited and that living conditions are often cramped and unsanitary.

The experts urged Southeast Asian countries, as well as the countries of origin of the trafficked workers, to provide help more quickly and increase efforts to protect victims and prevent the scams from taking place.  

This should include efforts that “go beyond surface-level public awareness campaigns” and which address the drivers of forced cyber-criminality – poverty, lack of access to reasonable work conditions, education and healthcare.

Other recommendations to governments included addressing the insufficient regular migration options that push people into the arms of people traffickers.

Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, and Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, are neither staff members of the UN nor paid by the global organization. 

Proliferation of scam farms post-pandemic

The dark inner workings of scam farms were revealed in a UN News investigation last year which found that they had proliferated following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Southeast Asia is the ground zero for the global scamming industry,” said Benedikt Hofmann, from the UN agency to combat drugs and crime, UNODC. 

“Transnational organised criminal groups that are based in this region are masterminding these operations and profiting most from them,” said Mr. Hofmann, Deputy Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, at a Philippines scam farm that was shut down by the authorities in March 2024. 

When UN News gained access to the compound, it was found to have housed 700 workers who were “basically fenced off from the outside world,” Mr. Hofmann explained.

“All their daily necessities are met. There are restaurants, dormitories, barbershops and even a karaoke bar. So, people don’t actually have to leave and can stay here for months.” 

Escaping was a near-impossible task and came at a hefty price.

“Some have been tortured and been subjected to unimaginable violence on a daily basis as punishment for wanting to leave or for failing to reach their daily quota in terms of money scammed from victims,” the UNODC official insisted.

“There are multiple types of victims, the people who are being scammed around the world, but also the people who are trafficked here held against their will and who are exposed to violence.” 

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90 days to economic collapse: UN and experts sound alarm over security at sea

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Addressing a high-level debate of the Security Council, António Guterres said that oceans and seas are “sending a clear SOS,” as maritime spaces face escalating pressure from both traditional threats and new dangers – including piracy, armed robbery, trafficking, terrorism, cyberattacks and territorial disputes.

“From time immemorial, maritime routes have bound the world together,” he said.

“But maritime spaces are increasingly under strain…and without maritime security, there can be no global security.”

Spike in piracy, attacks

The Secretary-General pointed to a sharp spike in piracy and armed robbery at sea in early 2025, citing International Maritime Organization (IMO) figures showing a 47.5 per cent increase in reported incidents compared to the same period last year.

The rise was most pronounced in Asia, especially in the busy Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

He also highlighted continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by Houthi forces, disruptions in the Black Sea, and growing criminal networks trafficking drugs and people across the Gulf of Guinea, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

The debate was a signature event of the Greek presidency of the Council. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held the gavel, and several ministers were in the chamber.

A 90-day countdown to collapse

Melina Travlos, President of the Union of Greek Shipowners, delivered a stark warning to Council members: if the global shipping system grinds to a halt, the world economy will collapse in just 90 days.

She described shipping as “the silent guardian of global welfare,” noting that 90 per cent of international trade and more than 12 billion tonnes of goods depend on maritime transport each year.

“Shipping unites the world, not occasionally, but consistently,” she said, calling for greater protection of seafarers and maritime infrastructure amid increasing and more complex threats.

Security forces board a boat suspected of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. (file)

One ship, six days, billions lost

Christian Bueger, a professor of international relations at the University of Copenhagen, reminded ambassadors that in 2021, a single ship – the Ever Given – blocked the Suez Canal for six days, costing the global economy billions.

“Never before in history have we been as dependent on the sea as we are today,” he said, citing a 300 per cent rise in maritime trade since the 1990s.

Mr. Bueger urged Member States to adopt a more systematic, evidence-based approach to maritime security, urging a global response that is as interconnected as the threats it faces.

Uphold law of the sea

In his remarks, Secretary-General Guterres laid out a three-pronged strategy to strengthen maritime security – highlighting that decisive, coordinated global action is needed regardless of individual flashpoints or shipping disruptions.

These include upholding international law, tackling the root causes of maritime insecurity, and strengthening global partnerships.

He called on all nations to uphold international law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the international treaty that sets the legal framework for all maritime activities and regulates the use of ocean and its resources.

“This framework is only as strong as States’ commitment to full and effective implementation,” he said.

“All States must live up to their obligations.”

Secretary-General António Guterres (centre) addresses the UN Security Council meeting on strengthening maritime security through international cooperation for global stability under maintenance of international peace and security.

Prioritise investment

On root causes, he urged investment in coastal communities, judicial reform and building maritime capacity in developing countries — from surveillance to port security.

Alongside this, weak governance, rising poverty and lack of opportunities must be addressed.

The UN chief stressed that lasting solutions would require cooperation from governments, regional bodies, the private sector and civil society – including women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by maritime crime.

“Collectively, we must do more to reduce the likelihood that desperate people will turn to crime and other activities that threaten maritime security and degrade our ocean environment,” he said.

“The United Nations system stands ready to support Member States to ensure peaceful, secure, and prosperous maritime spaces for generations to come.”

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Gaza: Starvation looms for one in five people, say food security experts

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“Goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks…The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity,” said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform.

In its latest update, the IPC estimated that one in five people in Gaza – 500,000 – faces starvation.

Prices have soared for basics such as a 25 kilogramme sack of wheat flour, which now costs between $235 and $520, representing a 3,000 per cent price spike since February.

“In a scenario of a protracted and large-scale military operation and continuation of the humanitarian and commercial blockade, there would be a critical lack of access to supplies and services that are essential to survival,” the IPC said.

New strikes on UN shelters

The development comes amid continuing reports of Israeli bombardment across Gaza on Monday. 

On Saturday, another school run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA was hit, this time in Gaza City at around 6.30pm, reportedly killing two people and injuring an unknown number.

A day earlier, four more people were reportedly killed when another UNRWA facility was bombed in Jabalia camp, north Gaza. The agency’s office was “completely destroyed” and three surrounding buildings sustained severe damage, including a distribution centre. There were no supplies in the distribution centre when it was hit, owing to the continuing Israeli blockade, UNRWA said, noting that it ran out of food for Gaza “more than two weeks ago”. 

Echoing the wider aid community’s rejection of the Israeli plan to manage deliveries of food and non-food items across Gaza’s governorates, the IPC deemed it “highly insufficient to meet the population’s essential needs for food, water, shelter and medicine”.

IPC’s assessments help aid agencies decide where needs are greatest around the world. Food insecurity is measured on a scale of one to five, with IPC1 indicating no hunger and IPC5 denoting famine conditions.

According to the latest data, 15 per cent of people in the governorates of Rafah, North Gaza and Gaza are classified as IPC5. Most of the remainder are little better off.

Israel plan scepticism

Amid this disastrous and deteriorating situation, Israel’s proposed distribution plan will likely create “significant access barriers [to aid] for large segments of the population”, the IPC said.

And pointing to Israel’s recently announced large-scale military operation across the Gaza Strip and persistent obstacles impeding the work of aid agencies, it warned that there was “a high risk that ‘Famine (IPC Phase 5)’ will occur” between now and 30 September.

With hunger everywhere, a high number of households have reported having to resort to “extreme coping strategies” such as collecting rubbish to sell for food. But one in four of this number say that “no valuable garbage remains”, while social order “is breaking down” the IPC reported.

 

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