RIO DE JANEIRO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Foreign Ministry Wednesday expressed concern about the children of undocumented immigrants in the United States being separated from their adult relatives.
There are reports of at least 49 Brazilian minors among the thousands of children who have been separated from their parents in the United States since the Trump administration decided to separate the families.
The United States faced worldwide criticism as images of crying children being kept in cage-like shelters, with only the bare minimum to survive, were circulated. Several of the children were shown to be cold and trying to keep warm with only aluminum foil covers.
After the uproar, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order canceling his previous separation scheme earlier on Wednesday, but it remains unclear when the families will be reunited.
The ministry considered the Trump administration's practices "cruel and in clear dissonance from the international instruments of child rights' protection."
"The Brazilian government hopes that the executive order signed today by the U.S. government implies the immediate revocation of the practice of separating minors from their parents or guardians," the ministry said.
The ministry also ordered the Brazilian Embassy and consulates in the United States to take action to protect the Brazilian children in the country, advising on legal steps to ensure the reunification of families and launching campaigns to inform Brazilians of the risk of trying to cross the border into the United States.
