US turning to UN over flow of Central American migrants

The US is looking to the United Nations for help in dealing with thousands of migrants fleeing to the US to escape violence in Central America.

The hope is that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees will set up processing centres for people to apply for resettlement in the region.

The centres would be located in several Central American countries.

Over 68,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended by US immigration authorities in 2014.

Violence and endemic poverty in several Central American countries have been driving migrants north to the US.

Refugees cannot make applications for relocation while in their home country, so they must travel to neighbouring countries to apply for relocation to a third country.

The hope is the processing centres would provide at least temporary safety while asylum claims were processed, and would mean people being relocated to other countries other than the US.

"We are hopeful that this process can be an effective tool for assessing individuals' humanitarian relief claims and avoid a very dangerous journey to the United States," said a senior administration official.

In recent days, the White House has been working behind the scenes to tamp down rebukes from members of the president's own party over deportation raids that took place over the holidays.

The raids saw over 120 immigrants placed in line for deportation over New Year's weekend.

Just hours before President Barrack Obama's final State of the Union address last Tuesday, more than 140 House Democrats signed a letter urging the administration to halt the raids.

The official, speaking to the BBC, said the UN plan was not a reaction to this and had been in the works "for months".