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Executive Summary for June 21st

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including Trump caving in to mounting pressure over family separation, harrowing audio and images of children driving surge in donations, and Merkel looking to emergency E.U. meeting to rescue coalition.

Published on June 21, 2018 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Trump Caves In to Pressure Over Stripping Children From Parents

President Donald Trump has ended the practice of family separation by executive order. After a week in which the White House sought to deflect criticism of the crackdown, it appeared to drop the policy. Despite the order, it remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,300 children already separated from their parents.

“We’re going to have strong – very strong – borders, but we are going to keep the families together,” Mr. Trump said as he signed the order in the Oval Office. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.” The move came just days after Trump insisted that ending family separation could not be done by executive order.

Crying Children Audio Creates Aylan Kurdi-Style Donation Surge

Concern over children separated from their parents at the U.S. border has seen a surge in donations to nonprofits. A Facebook page created by a Silicon Valley couple had collected $14 million by June 20. The surge recalls the international public outcry after photographs of the dead child Aylan Kurdi were published.

A fundraiser called “Reunite an immigrant parent with their child” was started by California-based David and Charlotte Willner hoping to raise $1,500. It is now collecting millions and the donations will be passed to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, a Texas nonprofit.

A Deeper Look

National Geographic: After Fleeing War, Refugee Children Face Lasting Psychological Trauma

“Children’s brains have high elasticity … If you do the right intervention as the trauma is happening, it allows you to transform a traumatic experience into an empowering one.”

Merkel Looks to Deal With E.U. Partners to Rescue Germany’s Coalition

The German chancellor will try to agree an E.U. migration deal at an emergency meeting on Sunday. Angela Merkel needs to satisfy conservatives in her own ranks or Germany’s coalition government will collapse. The Brussels talks will focus on persuading other E.U. countries to curb immigration and further restrict the movement of asylum seekers.

Recommended #MustReads

“‘The state counsellor also pointed out that the hate narratives from outside the country have driven the two communities further apart,’ the Facebook statement paraphrased Suu Kyi as saying, without identifying the communities.”

“But real estate records pointed to the potential use. A Walmart executive signed a document that indicated the buyer was purchasing the property with a $4.5 million loan from a nonprofit that runs shelters for migrant children.”

“And when you build the camps, how about you make them so grim and dangerous that they are often worse than the conditions people were fleeing from. Why don’t you put the refugees in a place as hot as hell, with all sorts of tropical diseases and only basic medical care. Places where there’s nothing to do and nowhere to go. Places with random outbreaks of violence, that end in murder (RIP Reza Barati).”

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