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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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News

Congress needs to investigate the Pentagon’s failure to protect civilians

A New York Times exposé on a previously undisclosed attack on dozens of noncombatants in Syria is indicative of DOD’s impunity.

Pentagon leadership cannot – or will not – fix its civilian casualties problem. It’s long past time for Congress to step in. On November 17, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “we are committed to protecting civilians and getting this right...We have…
A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013.
News

Border Agents Can't Police Themselves

After images of Border Patrol agents on horseback aggressively swinging lariats at and chasing Black migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border shocked the public in September, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was quick to promise a…
A man stands with his hands on the back of a van marked "Border Patrol"
News

Letter to President Biden on US Policy Toward the Middle East

November 3, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: US Policy Toward the Middle East Dear President Biden, When you were elected last year, we urged your incoming administration to strive to be a…
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

US Records Show Physical, Sexual Abuse at Border

Newly Obtained Documents Reveal Urgent Need for Justice, Reform

(New York) – Newly obtained United States government documents detail over 160 internal reports of misconduct and abuse of asylum seekers at the hands of US officials, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The documents report abuse by…
A man stands with his hands on the back of a van marked "Border Patrol"
Report

“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

Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

Struggle to Survive Amid Devastation, Property Destruction

(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 said in a report released…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

Joint Letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas

Regarding the Law Enforcement Coordination Council (LECC)

Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Department of Homeland Security by electronic mail Dear Secretary Mayorkas: We write to express several urgent concerns about your September 29, 2021, announcement of the Law Enforcement Coordination Council (LECC).…
Two Customs and Border Protection agents on horseback approach three Haitian migrants standing in the river. The migrants are holding bags and shoes.
News

How "voluntary" are Mexico's 'humanitarian return flights'?

Since mid-September, United States and Mexican authorities have removed thousands of mostly Haitian migrants and asylum seekers from makeshift camps in Del Rio, Texas and Ciudad Acuña, across the border in the Mexican state of Coahuila. The US has…
Haitians deported from the United States leave Toussaint Louverture International Airport under a rain shower in Port au Prince, Haiti on September 19, 2021.
News

US: Treatment of Haitian Migrants Discriminatory

Chased by Border Agents on Horseback; Returned to Danger in Haiti

(Washington, DC) – The US deployment of border agents on horseback against Haitian migrants on September 19, 2021, stems from abusive and racially discriminatory immigration policies by the administration of President Joe Biden, Human Rights Watch…
Two Customs and Border Protection agents on horseback approach three Haitian migrants standing in the river. The migrants are holding bags and shoes.
News

Haiti: Protect Women, Girls in Quake Response

Learn from 2010 Experience; Meet Needs of At-Risk Groups

(Washington DC) – The Haitian government and donors need to heed lessons learned from failures in previous disasters in responding to the August 14, 2021 earthquake, to ensure that women, girls, and other marginalized groups can get the care they need…
Residents help Team Rubicon's disaster response team unload aid at the airport from a US Army helicopter to take to the hospital where the team is treating residents injured in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Thursday, August 19, 2021. 
News

Letter to the Editor: the Turmoil in Cuba

Just as largely unprecedented mass street protests erupted on the streets in Cuba [“In the streets, Cubans ‘have lost their fear’, ” front page, July 13], the Coast Guard’s interdiction of a boat off the coast of Key West and summary return of Cubans…
A Coast Guard Station Marathon boat crew and 15 migrants aboard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium near Big Pine Key, Florida on July 3, 2021. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Estrada. Source: United States Coast Guard
News

Haiti: Investigate President’s Killing

Other Recent Violence Led to the Killing of 2 Journalists, Activists

(Washington, DC) – Haitian authorities should request international assistance to conduct prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations into the murder of President Jovenel Moïse and other recent, serious acts of violence, Human Rights Watch said…
In this February 7, 2020, file photo, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse arrives for an interview at his home in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Moïse was killed and first lady Martine Moïse was wounded in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, July 7, 2021.
News

UN Security Council: Restore Syria Cross-Border Aid

Russia Should Allow Full Year of UN-Led Aid Delivery from Turkey, Iraq

(New York) – Russia should not block the United Nations Security Council from reauthorizing and expanding cross-border humanitarian aid operations across northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Millions of people in northeast and northwest…
UN humanitarian aid trucks enter northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on June 1, 2021
News

Prisoners in Haiti Still Face Horrendous Conditions

Government Should Reduce Pretrial Detention, Strengthen Judicial Independence

“We are tired of living like this, we live worse than animals,” a Haitian prisoner recently told the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). His testimony and those of the more than 800 prisoners in 12 jails are part of a comprehensive…
A detainee pulls a large stock pot filled with rice and beans during lunch inside the National Penitentiary in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Febuary. 13, 2017.