Reports

Covid-19, Poverty, and Child Labor in Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda

The 69-page report, “I Must Work to Eat”: Covid-19, Poverty, and Child labor in Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda,” was co-published with Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) in Uganda, and Friends of the Nation in Ghana. Researchers examined the rise in child labor and poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the pandemic’s impact on children’s rights. Children described working long, grueling hours for little pay after their parents lost jobs or income due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. Many described hazardous working conditions, and some reported violence, harassment, and pay theft.

A child sits on the sidewalk in front of a display of goods to sell

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  • Salary Abuses Facing Migrant Workers Ahead of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022

    The 78-page report, “‘How Can We Work Without Wages?’: Salary Abuses Facing Migrant Workers Ahead of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022” shows that employers across Qatar frequently violate workers’ right to wages and that Qatar has failed to meet its 2017 commitment to the International Labour Organization (ILO) to protect mig

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  • Exploitation of Construction Workers on World Cup Sites in Russia

    This report documents how workers on six World Cup stadium construction sites faced unpaid wages either in full or part, several months’ delays in payment of wages, work in temperatures as cold as -25 degrees Celsius without sufficient protections, and employers’ failure to provide work contracts required for legal emplo

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    Cover of the Russia FIFA World Cup report
  • Human Rights and Land Confiscation in Karen State

    This report documents human rights violations by militias, police, and government officials in Karen State for the confiscation of land from ethnic Karen farmers, many of whose families had farmed the land for generations.

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    Cover of Burma report
  • Mining and Human Rights in Malawi

    This report examines the impact of extractive industries on communities in some of Malawi’s first mining areas, in Karonga district located on the northwestern shores of Lake Malawi. Malawi’s government has promoted private investment in mining and resource extraction to diversify its economy.

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    Cover of Malawi report
  • Palestinian Child Labor in Israeli Agricultural Settlements in the West Bank

    This 74-page report documents that children as young as 11 work on some settlement farms, often in high temperatures. The children carry heavy loads, are exposed to hazardous pesticides, and in some cases have to pay themselves for medical treatment for work-related injuries or illness.

    Palestinian laborers, including a 16-year-old, head out to work at a farm on an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
  • Ill-Treatment of Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Morocco

    This 79-page report found that beatings and other abuses occurred as Moroccan security forces took custody of Sub-Saharan migrants who had tried unsuccessfully to reach the Spanish enclave of Melilla, or—prior to September 2013—as they were rounding up migrants without any semblance of due process to expel them to Algeri

  • Exploitation of Migrant Workers Ahead of Russia’s 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi

    This 67-page report documents exploitation of migrant workers on key Olympic sites, including the Central Olympic Stadium, the Main Olympic Village, and the Main Media Center.

  • Abuse of Cambodian Domestic Workers Migrating to Malaysia

    This report documents Cambodian domestic workers’ experiences during recruitment, work abroad, and upon their return home. It is based on 80 interviews with migrant domestic workers, their families, government officials, nongovernmental organizations, and recruitment agents.
  • How Jordanian Laws, Officials, Employers, and Recruiters Fail Abused Migrant Domestic Workers

    This 111-page report documents abuses against domestic workers and the failure of Jordanian officials to hold employers and the agents who recruited the workers accountable.
  • Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years after the US-Led Invasion

    This 102-page report calls on the government to protect the rights of vulnerable groups and to amend its penal code and all other laws that discriminate against women and violate freedom of speech.
  • Human Rights Watch Work on Abuses against Migrants in 2010

    This roundup of Human Rights Watch reporting on violations of migrants’ rights in 2010 includes coverage of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
  • Abuse of Migrant Domestic Workers through Kuwait’s Sponsorship System

    This 97-page report describes how workers become trapped in exploitative or abusive employment then face criminal penalties for leaving a job without the employer’s permission.

  • How the Lebanese Justice System Fails Migrant Domestic Workers

    This 54-page report reviews 114 Lebanese judicial decisions affecting migrant domestic workers. It finds that lack of accessible complaint mechanisms, lengthy judicial procedures, and restrictive visa policies dissuade many workers from filing or pursuing complaints against their employers.
  • Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan

    This 115-page report documents how some employers confiscated migrant workers' passports, failed to provide them with written contracts, did not pay regular wages, cheated them of earnings, and required them to work excessively long hours.
  • A Human Rights Framework for Immigration Reform in the United States

    This 24-page report proposes a framework for improving US immigration law that would give immigrant crime victims a chance to seek justice, protect workers, respect the private and family life of longtime residents, and provide fair treatment for immigrants who come before the courts.