U.N. concerned at U.S. pushbacks of migrants who may need asylum

United Nations agencies said on Tuesday that people massed along the U.S.-Mexican border who have a fear of persecution in their homeland, including Haiti, have a right to file a claim seeking asylum and voiced concern at deportations.

"We reiterate that while some people arriving at the border may not be refugees, anyone who does have a claim, who claims to have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their country of origin, they should have access to asylum and to have their claim assessed before being subjected to expulsion or deportation," U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said.

Marta Hurtado, U.N. human rights spokesperson, told the same Geneva news briefing: "We are disturbed by the images that we have seen and by the fact that we have seen all these migrants and refugees and asylum-seekers in transport to Port-au-Prince. We are seriously concerned by the fact that it appears there have not been any individual assessments of the cases."