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“Our Lives Are Like Death”

Summary Syria is a death country, a kidnapping country. Anyone coming back will lose their money or their life. — Salam, 26, from al-Jeza in Daraa Syrian refugees who voluntarily returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan…
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Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

(Beirut) – Syrian refugees who returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias, Human Rights Watch…
News

Persons with Disabilities in the Context of Armed Conflict

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for his thematic report to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly regarding the rights of persons with…
News

Middle East/North Africa: End Violent Punishment of Children

Human Rights Watch Introduces Country Index Based on Laws, Policies

(Beirut) – Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should outlaw the violent discipline of children, Human Rights Watch said today, introducing an index categorizing countries in the region based on their laws and policies. The MENA…
2020 Dadu Shin for Human Rights Watch
News

Algeria: Activist Facing Charges for Peaceful Support of Protests

Trial Postponed Over His Poor Health, But He Remains in Detention

(Beirut) – Algerian Authorities have brought charges against an activist for his peaceful support for the pro-reform Hirak protest movement and for boycotting the December 2019 presidential elections, Human Rights Watch said today. The activist,…
An Algerian demonstrator holds the Algerian national flag as he stage a protest against the government in Algiers, Algeria, Friday, Nov.29, 2019. 
Report

“I Want to Continue to Study”

Summary As the Syria conflict continues into its tenth year, Syrian refugee children in Jordan are confronting obstacles to education that grow more acute as they progress into secondary education. Every child has the right to a quality primary and…
News

Jordan: Secondary School Gap for Syrian Refugee Kids

Brussels Friends of Syria Conference Should Address Massive Dropouts

(Brussels) – The majority of Syrian refugee children in Jordan don’t have the chance to go to secondary school, close to a decade after Syrian refugees began arriving, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. International donors and…
An illustration of a schoolchild staring at a wall, with a burning city behind them
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Jordan: Secondary School Gap for Syrian Refugee Kids

(Brussels, June 26, 2020) – The majority of Syrian refugee children in Jordan don’t have the chance to go to secondary school, close to a decade after Syrian refugees began arriving, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. International donors…
News

Saudi Arabia: Abuses Taint Mass Terrorism Trial

Palestinians, Jordanians Face Vague Charges, Allege Torture

(Beirut) – Saudi Arabia’s mass trial of 68 Jordanian and Palestinian residents raises serious due process concerns amid accusations of abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. In March 2018, Saudi authorities carried out a wave of arrests…
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Algeria: Crackdown as Election Looms

Prison Sentences for Protesters

(Beirut) - Algerian authorities are cracking down on the protest movement known as “the Hirak,” which opposes holding the presidential elections scheduled for December 12, 2019, arresting hundreds of activists and imprisoning scores for…
201903mena_algeria_protest_1
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Syria/Jordan: Open Borders to Daraa Residents

Dire Conditions for Thousands Fleeing Fighting

(Beirut) – Jordanian and Israeli authorities should allow Syrians fleeing fighting in Daraa governorate to claim asylum and protect them, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 16, 2018, the Syrian-Russian military alliance opened an…
An Internally displaced girl from Daraa province carries a stuffed toy and holds the hand of child near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Quneitra, Syria June 29, 2018. © 2018 Reuters/Alaa Al-Faqir
News

Algeria: Inhumane Treatment of Migrants

Pregnant Women, Children, Asylum Seekers Among Thousand Expelled to Desert

(Beirut) – Algeria has deported thousands of men, women, and children since January 2018 to Niger and Mali in inhumane conditions, and in many cases without considering their legal status in Algeria or their individual vulnerabilities,…
• فتاة مهاجرة أفريقية تنظر حولها بينما تقف على جسر شُيِّد تحته مخيم مستحدث على الطريق السريع في ضواحي الجزائر العاصمة، الجزائر، 28 يونيو/حزيران 2017. © 2017 رويترز/زهرة بن سمرا
News

Jordan: Biased Law Leaves Non-Citizen Children Adrift

2014 ‘Reforms’ Fail to Meaningfully Address Critical Needs

(Amman) – Children born to Jordanian mothers and non-Jordanian fathers struggle to get basic rights and services in Jordan, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Due to a law that denies women the right to pass…
A Jordanian woman, her Syrian husband and their children, who were born in Jordan but are not citizens, in Amman, Jordan on February 9, 2018.
News

Friends of Syria: Action Needed at Brussels Conference

Focus on Justice, Refugees, Education

(Brussels) - The Friends of Syria Group meeting in Brussels on April 24-25, 2018, should address the war crimes and impunity that characterize the Syria conflict and meet urgent protection and humanitarian needs, Human Rights Watch said…
People walk with their belongings as they flee the rebel-held town of Hammouriyeh, in the village of Beit Sawa, eastern Ghouta, Syria March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
News

Jordan: Step Forward, Step Back for Urban Refugees

They Get Legal Status, But Lose Health Subsidies

Update (March 29, 2018): An earlier version of this news release stated that as of March 20, 2018, about 3,300 Syrians had signed up for Jordan’s “amnesty” to formalize their residency in urban areas. The news release has been updated…
Syrian children attend class in a school in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, October 20, 2015. The school taught Syrian girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon, but lacked electricity, heating, and running water.
News

On Jordanian Mothers’ Day, Some Have Little to Celebrate

At age 60, “Samira,” a divorced Jordanian mother of four adult children born to a non-Jordanian father, is forced to be the only breadwinner in her household. She lives in a modest house in Irbid with her two sons, their wives, and…
Jordanian mothers of non-citizen children in Amman on Friday 9 March, 2018.
News

Top 5 Reforms Middle East Governments Can Make in 2018

Respond to Youth Demands, Gain Respect in the World

(Beirut) – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) governments can respond to the popular demands of the region’s youth for reform by implementing five changes in 2018 to arbitrary, outdated legal systems that infringe upon citizens’ rights and liberties,…
Demonstration outside Parliament on December 6, 2016, with women in white dresses and wrapped in bandages, calling for the repeal of article 522 of the penal code.
News

A Good Move by Jordan for Syrian Children

New Policy Will Help Open School Doors

The big picture is bleak for Syrian refugee children, but the Jordanian government recently took a step to ensure these children’s right to an education. Jordanian regulations require Syrian children to have a “service card,” issued by the…
Syrian children attend class in a school in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, October 20, 2015. The school taught Syrian girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon, but lacked electricity, heating, and running water.

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