• Ukraine: Stop Harassing Somali Asylum Seekers
    Press release
    Feb 1, 2012
    The Ukrainian authorities should immediately stop police harassment and threats against Somali asylum seekers held at the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre.
  • UAE: Free Speech Under Attack
    Press release
    Jan 25, 2012
    The United Arab Emirates during 2011 muzzled the right of its citizens to express themselves and to form independent associations, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing its World Report 2012 at a news conference in Dubai.
  • Cambodia/ Malaysia: Domestic Workers Face Abuse
    Press release
    Oct 31, 2011
    The Cambodian and Malaysian governments’ failure to regulate recruiters and employers leaves Cambodian migrant domestic workers exposed to a wide range of abuses. Tens of thousands of Cambodian women and girls who migrate to Malaysia have little protection against forced confinement in training centers, heavy debt burdens, and exploitative working conditions.
  • Cambodia: Overhaul Protections for Migrant Domestic Workers
    Press release
    Oct 14, 2011
    Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s proposed ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia should be accompanied by a major overhaul in protections for these workers. On October 14, 2011, Hun Sen promised an opposition lawmaker, Mu Sochua, to halt migration in the wake of repeated complaints of abuse during recruitment in Cambodia and employment in Malaysia.
  • Sharing Greece's asylum shame
    Commentary
    Sep 29, 2011
    The EU’s border agency should not be sending migrants to camps deemed abusive by Europe’s top human-rights court.
  • EU: Border Agency Exposes Migrants to Abusive Conditions
    Press release
    Sep 21, 2011
    Frontex, the European Union’s external border enforcement agency, is exposing migrants to inhuman and degrading conditions, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today. Migrants apprehended along Greece’s land border with Turkey are sent to overcrowded detention centers in Greece.
  • Australia: Ruling Upholds Refugees’ Rights
    Press release
    Aug 31, 2011
    The Australian High Court ruled on August 31, 2011, that the Australia-Malaysia Transfer and Resettlement Arrangement is invalid and that any attempt to remove these asylum seekers to Malaysia would be unlawful.
  • Submission to the Australia Senate Legal and Constitutional Committees
    Written statement
    Aug 30, 2011
    Human Rights Watch submits this assessment of the Australia-Malaysia Transfer and Resettlement Arrangement (hereafter, the Arrangement) with particular reference to the consistency of the agreement to transfer asylum seekers to Malaysia with Australia’s obligations under international refugee law and with respect to the implications of the Arrangement for unaccompanied children, in particular, whether there are any guarantees with respect to their treatment.
  • Cambodia: New Regulation Short-Changes Domestic Workers
    Press release
    Aug 30, 2011
    Cambodia’s revised regulation on labor migration, approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen on August 17, 2011, falls far short of minimum protections needed to safeguard migrant domestic workers. The regulation omits or only has vague protections for workers and does not adequately address such problems as debt bondage, illegal recruitment of underage workers, and forced confinement by recruitment agencies in Cambodia.
  • Australia, Malaysia: Refugee Swap Fails Protection Standards
    Press release
    Jul 26, 2011

    Australia and Malaysia’s agreement to swap 800 asylum seekers who arrive in Australia for 4,000 refugees living in Malaysia fails to meet minimal standards for refugee burden-sharing.