GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations (UN) stressed Friday that seeking asylum is a “universally recognised” human right, following decisions by President Donald Trump to suspend all refugee admissions and halt the United States (US) asylum programme.

“All states are entitled to exercise their jurisdiction along their international borders (but) they need to do so in line with their human rights obligations,” UN Rights Office Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva when asked about the decisions.

“The right to seek asylum is a universally recognised human right.”

Her comment came after Trump, on his first day back in office on Monday, declared a national emergency at the US southern border and vowed to deport “millions and millions” of migrants.

The White House has also halted an asylum programme for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.

In addition, Trump signed an executive order suspending all refugee admissions as of January 27.

That move also halted “all previously scheduled travel of refugees to the United States”, according to a State Department email to groups working with new arrivals, seen by AFP.

“We urge all states to ensure humane and human rights-based border governance, including ensuring migrants’ rights to individualised assessments of their particular circumstances and protection from collective expulsion… as well as from arbitrary arrest and detention,” Shamdasani said.

She stressed that the UN rights office had “called for all states to expand the availability and accessibility of pathways for safe and regular migration, including regularisation mechanisms in line with international human rights standards”.

“International norms that were developed by the states themselves constitute the best base on which to build state responses to multiple and complex challenges related to migration,” she said.