• The invisibility of domestic workers
    Commentary
    May 4, 2012

    Liesl Gerntholtz, the Director of the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, says one of the major problems they have found in their latest research (mainly in Asia and the Middle East) is that labor law does not recognize domestic workers as workers so they are therefore not well protected. 

  • Maternal mortality under scrutiny
    Commentary
    May 4, 2012
    Since the 1990s South Africa has not reduced the number of women who die needlessly each year from preventable and treatable causes linked to pregnancy and childbirth.
  • Indonesia: Parliament Approves Migrant Workers Convention
    Press release
    Apr 12, 2012

    Indonesia’s ratification of the Migrant Workers Convention will bring new protections for millions of Indonesian migrant workers, Migrant Care and Human Rights Watch said today. The Indonesian parliament adopted the international treaty on April 12, 2012, without reservations in a plenary session.

  • A sick system abuses its refugees
    Commentary
    Mar 18, 2012

    South Africa's tourism website describes the country as the "land of good times and friendly people". Sadly, Araya Y, a pregnant Somali refugee living in Port Elizabeth, did not experience this side of the country. Instead, when she went to a government district hospital in July 2010 to give birth, she was abused by medical staff and denied care. 

  • US: Victory for Rights in Alabama
    Press release
    Mar 9, 2012
    A decision by a federal appeals court to block two major provisions of Alabama’s immigrant law is a significant victory not just for immigrants but for the rights of all residents of Alabama.
  • Ukraine: Open Letter regarding the Arbitrary Detention of Somali Asylum Seekers
    Letter
    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.
  • US: Alabama's Samaritans Mitigate Strict Law
    Commentary
    Jan 6, 2012
    Well over a third of Alabamians think the state's controversial new immigrant law is unfair, according to a recent poll by Alabama State University. And they are turning their feelings into action. During a recent visit to Alabama, it was clear that many are acting as good Samaritans to mitigate a bad law.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Zanu-PF: It's time to take decisive action
    Commentary
    Jun 13, 2011
    Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting at an emergency summit on Zimbabwe in South Africa on June 11 will be hoping that their tougher stance towards resolving the country's political crisis eventually leads to democratic elections and an end to the crisis. But they have a long and challenging way ahead of them.