No immediate end to family separation
President Donald Trump has said he will sign legislation proposals from the senate or the house of representatives that solve the problem of children being separated from their parents who cross illegally into the United States. But, amid mounting public condemnation of the zero tolerance policy, Trump rejected any notion that he could act on his own. “The president can end this crisis with the flick of his pen, and he needs to do so now,” Democratic leader in the senate Chuck Schumer was cited as saying in The New York Times. Republicans in both houses have different plans on how to change immigration policy to ensure that families are not separated.
EU proposes migrant processing centres
The European Council meeting next week will have a strong focus on migration and may propose building migrant processing centres in north Africa, according to The Guardian. The paper says it has seen a draft of the proposal, which says the centres should “provide for rapid processing to distinguish between economic migrants and those in need of international protection and reduce the incentive to embark on perilous journeys.”
Salvini presses ahead with Roma crackdown
Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini has shrugged off criticism of his plans to help solve what the leader of the League calls “the Roma question”. The Guardian reports that Salvini wants a register all Roma living in the country and to expel thousands of non-Italian Roma “Unfortunately we will have to keep the Italian Roma because we can’t expel them,” he said in a TV interview. But coalition partner Luigi Di Maio of Five Star Movement called the creation of a new Roma registry “unconstitutional”.
Hungary moves against migration NGOs
The Hungarian government has announced plans to introduce a 25% tax on NGOs that support migration. Parliament will vote on Wednesday on the so-called “Stop Soros” bill, which would also provide powers to ban aid groups that support migration and are seen as a national security risk, writes The Guardian.
US leaves human rights council
The US is withdrawing from the United Nations human rights council citing as its reason the council’s bias against Israel and a failure to reform. “For too long the human rights council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias,” said US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley.
Stock markets react to trade war threat
The Dow Jones fell 400 points in early trading and closed 237 points down on Tuesday following US president Donald Trump’s threat to impose a further $200bn in levies on Chinese goods. Other exchanges also suffered with the FTSE closing down 0.4%, the CAC falling by 1.1% at close and the DAX in Frankfurt dropping by 1.2%.
Today’s breakfast briefing was compiled by Duncan Roberts