How the U Visa Builds Trust, Counters Fear, and Promotes Community Safety
The 50-page report, “‘We Need U’: How the U Visa Builds Trust, Counters Fear, and Promotes Community Safety,” finds that the administration’s deportation policies undermine federal visa programs that provide a pathway for crime victims to obtain legal residency when they cooperate with law enforcement. Changed enforcement guidance, such as allowing Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to apprehend people in previously safe places like courthouses and health centers, is a strong deterrent for immigrants who might otherwise report crime to police or seek a protective order.
Based on interviews with over 100 refugees, this 99-page report documents widespread police extortion of asylum seekers trying to reach three camps near the Kenyan town of Dadaab, the world's largest refugee settlement.
In 2009, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) held between 380,000 and 442,000 people in some 300 US detention facilities, at an annual cost of $1.7 billion. These people are not imprisoned as punishment for criminal offenses, but rather are detained for civil immigration violations. Many will be deprived of their liberty for months, some for years.
Protection of Migrant Domestic Workers in Asia and the Middle East
This 26-page report reviews conditions in eight countries with large numbers of migrant domestic workers: Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Forced Begging and Other Abuses against Talibés in Senegal
This 114-page report documents the system of exploitation and abuse in which at least 50,000 boys known as talibés - the vast majority under age 12 and many as young as four - are forced to beg on Senegal's streets for long hours, seven days a week, by often brutally abusive teachers, known as marabouts.
Detention and Denial of Women Asylum Seekers in the UK
The 69-page report documents how women asylum seekers with complex claims are being routed into a system designed for much simpler claims. The women are held in detention largely for the UK’s administrative convenience, have very little time to prepare a legal case, and have only a few days to appeal if refused.
This 124-page report is based on 82 interviews with migrants from neighboring Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It describes the widespread and severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in Thailand, including killings, torture in detention, extortion, and sexual abuse, and labor rights abuses such as trafficking, forced labor, and restrictions on organizing.
Arbitrary Detention of Refugees in the US Who Fail to Adjust to Permanent Resident Status
This 40-page report examines the detention of refugees for failure to file for lawful permanent resident status, even though US immigration officials already put them through a thorough vetting process at the time they were recognized as refugees.
Abuse and Refoulement of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Yemen
This report documents the harsh treatment of refugees traveling to Yemen and calls on the Yemeni government to stop systematically arresting Ethiopian asylum seekers and forcibly returning them home.
Violence, Discrimination and Barriers to Health for Migrants in South Africa
This 89-page report describes how harassment, lack of documentation, and the credible fear of deportation prevent many newcomers from seeking medical treatment even though South African law and policy state that asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants have a right to care.
The Transfer of Immigrants to Remote Detention Centers in the United States
This 88-page report presents new data analyzed for Human Rights Watch by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University. The data show that 53 percent of the 1.4 million transfers have taken place since 2006, and most occur between state and local jails that contract with the agency, known as ICE, to provide detention bed space.
Insufficient Protection for Unaccompanied Migrant Children at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport
In this 60-page report, Human Rights Watch concludes that France's system of detaining and deporting unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in Paris by air puts them at serious risk.
Italy's Forced Return of Boat Migrants and Asylum Seekers, Libya's Mistreatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers
This 92-page report examines the treatment of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Libya through the eyes of those who have managed to leave and are now in Italy and Malta. It also documents Italy's practice of interdicting boats full of migrants on the high seas and pushing them back to Libya without the required screening.
Repatriating the Displaced in the Context of Conflict in Eastern Chad
This 47-page report documents abuses against people who have been returning to their villages from camps for displaced persons in southeastern Chad. The Chadian government should work to improve security in rural areas where many of the displaced are returning.
