TUCSON, Ariz. — Pressure continues to mount on the federal government to treat the thousands of children traveling alone from Central America and crossing the border into the U.S. as refugees.

Officials from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees told The Associated Press this week that they hoped the U.S. and Mexico will consider the children refugees displaced by armed conflict, meaning they would not automatically be sent back to their home countries but receive international protection.

Many of the 50,000 young people who have arrived unaccompanied since last fall fled violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Would-be refugees and asylum seekers must navigate a complex system.