Following protests by Haitian activists in Miami, the United States is to reunite a Haitian family separated during an illegal attempt to reach the Florida coast.

The woman and her two children were on board a boat with about four hundred other immigrants heading for the US when it was intercepted by the coastguard over the New Year.

The mother, who's pregnant, was taken to Miami to undergo medical treatment while her children and most of the other passengers were sent back to Haiti.

The case, which surfaced during the custody dispute over a six-year-old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, has led to calls for the migrants to be given the same right to apply for asylum as Cuban people.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service