| | |
|
| |
|
|
Background Briefings From a Flood to a Trickle Neighboring States Stop Iraqis Fleeing War and Persecution Iraq’s neighbors are refusing entry, imposing onerous new passport and visa requirements, and building barriers to keep refugees out. In certain cases, they are also expelling Iraqis back to Iraq.This briefing paper focuses on new restrictive measures taken by Jordan and Egypt to prevent more refugees from coming. Syria, which is hosting about 1 million Iraqis, denied visas to Human Rights Watch researchers seeking to document their situation. Saudi Arabia is building a US$7 billion high-tech barrier on its border to keep Iraqis out, while Kuwait is categorically rejecting Iraqi asylum seekers. April 17, 2007 Also available in 
Cases Involving Diplomatic Assurances against Torture Developments since May 2005 This briefing paper shows how EU states have relied upon empty promises of humane treatment, known as “diplomatic assurances,” in efforts to justify the return of terrorism suspects to countries where they risk being tortured. In the report adopted today, the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on illegal CIA activity in Europe focuses on CIA flights and US-sponsored transfers of terrorism suspects. It also calls on EU member states to oppose the use of “diplomatic assurances” on torture in returning terrorism suspects. Europe pioneered the use of these “no torture” promises in the 1990s, well before the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. January 23, 2007 Also available in
Managing Migration Means Potential EU Complicity in Neighboring States’ Abuse of Migrants and Refugees European Union efforts to shift responsibility for migration to countries beyond EU borders threaten the human rights of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. Current EU migration polices are largely focused on keeping migrants and asylum seekers outside EU borders. However, these policies have failed to ensure that the rights of migrants and asylum seekers are respected, particularly in neighboring transit countries to the east or across the Mediterranean. This paper concentrates on the less well-known “external” dimension of the EU’s efforts, which rely on a mixture of assistance and pressure in order to shift responsibility for refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers to transit countries, such as Ukraine or Libya, and regions of origin. October 17, 2006 Human Rights Watch Statement to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Governing Council Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to address the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its Member States at the 2005 Governing Council meeting (90th Session). December 2, 2005 Printer friendly version Sexual Violence and its Consequences among Displaced Persons in Darfur and Chad This briefing paper documents how the Sudanese security forces, including police deployed to protect displaced persons, and allied Janjaweed militias continue to commit rape and sexual violence on daily basis. Even as refugees in Chad, women and girls fleeing the violence in Darfur continued to face the risk of rape and assault by civilians or militia members when collecting water, fuel or animal fodder near the border. Human Rights Watch interviewed many victims of sexual violence in camps in Chad and Darfur during two research missions to these areas in February. April 12, 2005 Printer friendly version A Crossroads for Human Rights? Human Rights Watch’s key concerns on Turkey for 2005 At its December 16-17 summit in Brussels, the European Council is expected to decide whether or not to open negotiations for Turkey’s full membership of the European Union. The decision follows the October 2004 evaluation by the European Commission that “Turkey sufficiently fulfils the political criteria” and its recommendation that accession negotiations be opened. Even if the Council gives a positive decision, Turkey is not expected to achieve full membership for another decade. December 15, 2004 Printer friendly version Advisory Note to Journalists Covering the Release of Regular Report on Turkey and Recommendations On October 6 the European Commission will publish its 2004 Regular Report on Turkey’s progress toward European Union membership. This document provides a background, highlights key issues to look for in the report, and ends with an assessment of the progress of reforms. October 4, 2004 Printer friendly version Last Chance for Turkey's Displaced? Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper Turkish state forces violently and illegally displaced upwards of 380,000 Kurdish villagers in the 1990s during a conflict with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey. Turkey should stop fending off the legitimate involvement of international agencies and make a formal declaration to integrate them in its return plans. October 4, 2004 Also available in 
Empty Promises Continuing Abuses in Darfur, Sudan This 35-page report documents how the Sudanese armed forces and the government-backed Janjaweed militias continue to target civilians and their livestock in villages in rural areas and in the towns and camps under government control. The report also analyzes Sudanese government pledges to rein in the militias, end impunity and restore security in Darfur. August 11, 2004 Printer friendly version Darfur Documents Confirm Government Policy of Militia Support A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, July 20, 2004 Numerous reports from Human Rights Watch and other sources have described the “hand-in-glove” manner in which the Government of Sudan and the nomadic ethnic militias known as the Janjaweed have operated together to combat a rebel insurgency in Darfur. Hundreds of eyewitnesses and victims of attacks have testified to the close coordination between government forces and their militia partners in the conflict. Militia leaders and members have been supplied with arms, communications equipment, salaries and uniforms by government officials and have participated in joint ground attacks on civilians with government troops, often with aerial bombing and reconnaissance support from government aircraft. July 20, 2004 Also available in
Printer friendly version Vietnam: Independent Investigation of Easter Week Atrocities Needed Now A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper Vietnamese officials and civilians acting on their behalf beat and killed dozens of Montagnards during Easter week demonstrations in the Central Highlands, when thousands of people gathered to protest confiscation of ancestral lands and religious repression, according to new eyewitness testimony obtained by Human Rights Watch. May 27, 2004 Printer friendly version Out of Limbo? Addressing the Plight of Kosovo Roma Refugees in Macedonia The plight of Kosovo Roma refugees in Macedonia—dramatically demonstrated by their protest occupation of a border area between Greece and Macedonia from May until August this year—highlights the gap between international refugee law on the one hand, and the reality for refugees in Europe today on the other. This Human Rights Watch briefing paper analyzes the Macedonia refugee crisis in light of international refugee law and points towards possible solutions that can be found in these relevant international standards. December 10, 2003 Printer friendly version The International Organization for Migration and Human Rights Protection in the Field: Current Concerns Human Rights Watch's engagement with IOM arises from our concern that IOM has no formal mandate to monitor human rights abuses or to protect the rights of migrants and other persons, even though literally millions of people worldwide participate in IOM-sponsored programs and projects. We began to monitor and document IOM operations in the field in the early 1990s. In 1993, we documented IOM's role in the asylum determination system imposed on Haitian asylum seekers by the United States and concluded that the determination procedure violated the right to seek asylum. Ten years later, we continue to find IOM complicit in situations that threaten people’s human rights in many countries, as detailed in this paper. November 18, 2003 Printer friendly version Liberia: Greater Protection Required for Civilians Still at Risk This information is based on interviews conducted by a Human Rights Watch researcher in Liberia from August 23 - September 9, 2003. The interviews were conducted in Monrovia and Buchanan with displaced persons, child soldiers, rape victims, and humanitarian and human rights workers, among others. September 9, 2003 The Regional Crisis and Human Rights Abuses in West Africa A Briefing Paper to the U.N. Security Council The United Nations Security Council's mission to the West African region comes at a critical juncture. There have been some significant positive developments in the region in the past year, namely progress in the restoration of peace and accountability in Sierra Leone. At the same time, the West African sub-region has experienced two serious setbacks: the outbreak of conflict in Côte d'Ivoire and the resurgence of the Liberian war. June 20, 2003 Printer friendly version An Unjust “Vision” for Europe’s Refugees Commentary on the U.K.'s June 20, 2003 will mark international refugee day - a day when governments should reaffirm their obligations to protect some of the world's most vulnerable people. Instead, European governments will meet on June 20 to debate the United Kingdom's (U.K.) proposal that promises to undermine those obligations. This proposal, to be discussed at the European Council meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece, outlines the U.K.'s "new vision" for the global management of asylum seekers, refugees, and other migrants. June 17, 2003 Printer friendly version “We Don’t Want to Be Refugees Again” Human Rights Watch urged Bhutan and Nepal to implement a screening and repatriation process that protects the human rights of more than one hundred thousand refugees of Nepalese ethnicity who were arbitrarily stripped of their citizenship and forced to flee Bhutan in the early 1990s. May 13, 2003 Printer friendly version Human Rights Watch Commentary On Australia's Temporary Protection Visas For Refugees Australia is the only country to grant temporary status to refugees who have been through a full asylum determination system and who have been recognized as genuinely in need of protection for 1951 Refugee Convention reasons. Temporary Protection, as it is used in Europe and as permitted by various United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ExCom Conclusions, is granted to asylum seekers as a group when they are fleeing an emergency that is self-evidently causing forced displacement or when the number of arriving asylum seekers threatens to overwhelm the administrative capacity of receiving states. In all other instances refugees are able to enjoy full and permanent protection after they have gone through the refugee determination process. May 13, 2003 Vietnam: New Documents Reveal Escalating Repression A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper Human Rights Watch has received credible first-hand reports of an escalation of repression by Vietnamese authorities against the ethnic minorities known as Montagnards in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Human rights violations have continued unabated since protests for land rights and religious freedom began in February 2001. April 18, 2003 Asylum Seekers and Refugees Briefing to the 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights The Commission on Human Rights has not focused specifically on the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees, except as a part of its work on the human rights of non-nationals more generally. Human Rights Watch and others have consistently documented widespread and egregious human rights abuses that asylum seekers and refugees regularly face, often because governments do not recognize that they must be guaranteed rights under international human rights law as well as the 1951 Refugee Convention. We believe it is essential that the Commission adopt a specific resolution affirming the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers. February 14, 2003 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Contribute to Human Rights Watch
Home | About Us | News Releases | Publications | About HRW | Info by Country | Global Issues | Campaigns | Free Mailing Lists | Community | Store | Film Festival | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | Press Contacts | Privacy Policy © Copyright 2006, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA |
