• A collection of photographs displayed in the office of a maid agency in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. These photos picture migrant workers and their families receiving upfront cash loans as “incentive” for migrating to Malaysia. Migrants must work in Malaysia without a salary for six to seven months in order to repay these loans, along with the exorbitant recruitment and training fees owed to labor agents.
    © 2011 Jyotsna Poudyal/Human Rights Watch
    Cambodia/ Malaysia: Domestic Workers Face Abuse
    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.
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Migrants

  • Hope for BC at BC?
    Feb 8, 2012

    When I went to college, I chose a highly regarded university with a strong tradition as a Jesuit institution. I was pleased with my undergraduate education at Boston College, but I still lament that my alma mater denies students access to contraceptive services through its health system.  

  • US: U-Visa Provisions in the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act
    Feb 2, 2012
    In anticipation of the Committee’s consideration of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act tomorrow, Human Rights Watch writes to express our strongest support for expanding and improving the protections afforded to immigrant victims of crime by the U-visa.
  • Ukraine: Stop Harassing Somali Asylum Seekers
    Feb 1, 2012
    The Ukrainian authorities should immediately stop police harassment and threats against Somali asylum seekers held at the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre.
  • Ukraine: Open Letter regarding the Arbitrary Detention of Somali Asylum Seekers
    Jan 31, 2012
    We are writing to raise our concern about the arbitrary detention of some or all of a group of 125 Somali nationals detained at the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre (MAC). Some of them are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Ukrainian authorities as asylum seekers. Around 80 have told UNHCR they want to apply for asylum in Ukraine, but have not been allowed to do so.
  • An abhorrent trail of abuse
    Jan 24, 2012
    At least nine Cambodian women died last year while performing domestic work in Malaysia. And the grim reality is that, without strong action by the Cambodian and Malaysian governments to rein in exploitative recruitment and employment practices, more lives will be lost in 2012.
  • Bahrain: Resolve Travel Ban Conundrum
    Jan 16, 2012
    Bahraini authorities should immediately resolve the predicament of foreign residents prevented from leaving the country due to debts, or from working to repay those debts.
  • Yemen Could Seize Moment to Ban Child Marriage
    Dec 20, 2011
    Yemen's version of the Arab Spring has eclipsed urgent social concerns both in debates within Yemen and with donor countries. One of these issues is the widespread forced marriage of girls; very young girls in some cases.Now that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to cede power, there may be an opportunity to press for social reform as part of the transition process.
  • Healthcare is failing women
    Dec 20, 2011

    South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of violence, including rape and domestic violence, against women. A study by Interpol estimates that, in South Africa, a woman is raped every 17 seconds and one in four South African women suffers domestic violence.

      

  • Greece: Rare Hate Crime Trial Opens
    Dec 12, 2011
    The trial of three people for the September 2011 assault on an Afghan asylum seeker in Athens is a sobering reminder of increasing racist violence in Greece.
  • Iraq/Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization: Cooperate With UN
    Nov 30, 2011
    Both the leadership of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and the Iraqi government should fully cooperate with the UN refugee agency, Human Rights Watch said today.
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