United Nations, July 9 (RHC)-- As the White House vows to speed the deportation of migrant children, United Nations officials are calling for most of them to be accepted into the United States as refugees.

A report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in March found that 58 percent of unaccompanied children detained by the United States could be entitled to refugee protections under international law.

The United Nations renewed the call ahead of a meeting Thursday in Nicaragua between the United States, Mexico and Central American countries. The agenda includes updating a 30-year-old declaration on state obligations to aid refugees.

The UNHCR says: "The U.S. and Mexico should recognize that this is a refugee situation, which implies that [children] shouldn’t be automatically sent to their home countries, but rather receive international protection."