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Human Rights Watch Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau

May 19, 2022 The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada Langevin Block, 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A3 Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Human Rights Watch writes to you today to highlight the urgent need for action…
Fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces deploy around al-Sina’a prison in the Ghweran district of al-Hasakah, northeast Syria, on January 25, 2022, midway through the 10-day battle to recapture it from the Islamic State (ISIS). © 2022 AFP Photo via Getty Images
News

UK: Afghan Women Evacuees in Limbo

Home Office Should Expedite Long-Term Housing, Support Services

(London) – The uncertainty and crowding in temporary housing is causing growing tensions for Afghan evacuees in the United Kingdom, especially women. Eight months after emergency evacuations from Afghanistan, many Afghan evacuees to the UK are…
Refugees from Afghanistan wait to be processed after arriving on an evacuation flight at Heathrow Airport, London, on August 26, 2021.
News

Refugees in Europe Need Mental Health Support

Governments Should Ensure Access for Those Struggling with Trauma

“If your mental health is not good, how are you supposed to move forward?”, said Rafi (not his real name), a young Afghan man who was evacuated to France a few months ago. After fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, all evacuees we…
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News

Canada Should Mark Ramadan by Helping Bring Home Unlawfully Detained Muslims

Four Dozen Canadians Languish in Squalid Camps

April marks the beginning of Ramadan for Muslims worldwide, a month of fasting, patience, and compassion that many here in Canada will mark surrounded by friends and family. But for some Canadian-Muslims, there is little to celebrate given the…
A girl stands in front of a chainlink fence
News

New Evidence that Biometric Data Systems Imperil Afghans

Taliban Now Control Systems with Sensitive Personal Information

The Taliban control systems holding sensitive biometric data that Western donor governments left behind in Afghanistan in August 2021, putting thousands of Afghans at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. These digital identity and payroll systems…
A United States military official takes the fingerprints of a man in Afghanistan
News

France: Afghan Evacuees Need Mental Health Support

French Authorities Should Provide More Assistance

(New York) – Many Afghans evacuated to France as the Taliban took over their country more than six months ago are experiencing trauma and psychological distress, Human Rights Watch said today. While France has provided important support to evacuees,…
Evacuated citizens from Afghanistan arrive in Strasbourg, eastern France, August 26, 2021
News

Denmark’s Mismatched Treatment of Syrian and Ukrainian Refugees

Government Should Treat All Refugees Equally

Shortly after Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, the Danish Immigration Service reportedly asked Denmark’s 98 municipalities to assess their capacity to take in Ukrainian refugees. This same agency recently began stripping Syrian refugees of their…
Protesters hold red heart-shaped signs
Report

No One is Spared

Summary The older woman told Human Rights Watch that the first time government soldiers and militias came to her village in South Sudan in 2015, all civilians were subject to attack. “The old men and women who couldn’t run were killed,” she said. “…
News

Canada: Let Gravely Ill Canadians Leave Northeast Syria

Obstructing Care for Detained Woman, Child Flouts Government Policy

Canada is effectively preventing a Canadian woman and a young Canadian child detained in northeast Syria from coming home for life-saving medical care despite a Canadian policy allowing them to do so, Human Rights Watch said today. That policy allows…
A woman poses wearing a hijab
News

Normative standards and obligations under international law in relation to the promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons

HRW Submission to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

December 6, 2021 1. Introduction This submission is based on Human Rights Watch’s research on human rights issues impacting older people, with a focus on rights in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, the right to live independently and…
News

Northeast Syria: Fate of Hundreds of Boys Trapped in Siege Unknown

Protect and Clarify Conditions of Detainees Recaptured from ISIS

(New York) – The Kurdish-led armed force in northeast Syria should ensure the humane treatment of all men and boys it has evacuated or recaptured from a prison that the Islamic State (ISIS) assaulted and held for several days, Human Rights Watch said…
Fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces deploy around al-Sina’a prison in the Ghweran district of al-Hasakah, northeast Syria, on January 25, 2022, midway through the 10-day battle to recapture it from the Islamic State (ISIS). © 2022 AFP Photo via Getty Images
News

Northeast Syria: Help Detainees from Recaptured ISIS-Held Prison

International Action Needed to Resolve Broader Detention Crisis

(Beirut) – Kurdish-led regional fighters backed by US and UK military forces recaptured a prison in northeast Syria that Islamic State (ISIS) fighters had held for six days on January 26, 2022. At least 284 people died during the assault and…
News

Syria/Russia: 12 Civilians Dead in Idlib Artillery Attacks

Unlawful Syrian-Russian Alliance Attack Strikes Civilians

Update December 13, 2021: After publication, Human Rights Watch interviewed a knowledgeable source who said he observed at least seven large-caliber artillery shells being fired into Ariha on October 20 at 8 a.m.. He said they had been fired from a…
A man stands amongst rubble in an apartment building
News

Lebanon: Syrian Refugee Children Blocked from School

Education Ministry Should Remove Barriers; Extend Registration Deadline

(Beirut) – Lebanon’s Education Ministry should extend the December 4, 2021, school registration deadline for Syrian children and end policies that are blocking Syrian refugee children’s access to education, Human Rights Watch said today. Thousands of…
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Report

“No Forgiveness for People Like You”

Summary The Taliban have told my family that my brothers are on a list…. They searched our house and arrested my older brother. He was released after two days, but during those days my younger brother was arrested and till now we don't know where…
News

The Torture Continues, Say Syrian Refugees Who Returned

Shortly after Denmark began telling Syrian refugees that parts of Syria are "safe" and stripped them of their temporary protected status, I talked to a 31-year-old refugee who voluntarily returned to Syria from Jordan in December 2020. He told me…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

Letter to the Government of Canada on Afghanistan Crisis

November 1, 2021 The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada The Honourable Sean Fraser Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada The Honourable Mélanie Joly Minister of Foreign Affairs Urgent Call to…
Afghans from northern provinces who fled their homes due to the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces take refuge in a public parc in Kabul, August 13, 2021. 
News

Afghanistan: Taliban Forcibly Evict Minority Shia

Hazaras, Former Civil Servants Targets of Collective Punishment, Land-Grabbing

(New York) – Taliban officials in several provinces across Afghanistan have forcibly displaced residents partly to distribute land to their own supporters, Human Rights Watch said today. Many of these evictions have targeted Hazara Shia…
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News

Afghanistan: Asylum Seekers Need Pathways to Protection

UN Agencies, Governments Should Improve Assistance to Afghans at Risk

(New York) – Afghans at risk who have fled or are seeking to flee Afghanistan need greater international support, Human Rights Watch said today in a new policy briefing paper. The United Nations system and concerned governments should improve their…
Afghans from northern provinces who fled their homes due to the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces take refuge in a public parc in Kabul, August 13, 2021. 

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