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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

Cambodia: Europe Should Denounce Rights Abuses at ASEM Summit

The Hun Sen Regime is Committed to Dismantle the Political Opposition Ahead of Scheduled Elections

(New York)  – On November 25-26, Cambodia will host the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit. This is a big deal for the Cambodian government, which is determined to change the often-overlooked summit into a big media event to…
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during a handover ceremony at Phnom Penh International Airport in February 2021.
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

Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child Concerning Cambodia

89th Session, 2021

This update submission relates to articles 2, 9, 23, 28, and 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and focuses on access to education during the Covid-19 pandemic and shackling and discrimination against children with disabilities. Access…
News

Cambodia: Political Prisoner Releases Just a Start

EU Should Press for Freeing All Activists Ahead of ASEM Summit

(Bangkok) – The Cambodian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Cambodia’s more than 60 political prisoners remaining in custody, Human Rights Watch said today. Between November 5 and 12, 2021, the authorities released 26…
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Thailand: Cambodian Refugees Forcibly Returned

Thai Government Facilitates Hun Sen’s Persecution of Political Opposition

(Bangkok) – Thai immigration officials forcibly returned two Cambodian refugees on November 9, putting them at risk of unfair trials in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today. Cambodian authorities should immediately drop the politically motivated…
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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…
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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

Cambodia: Vaccine Mandates Raise Rights Concerns

Covid-19 Vaccination Drive Should Focus on Access, Comprehensive Support

(Bangkok) – Cambodian authorities have imposed Covid-19 vaccine mandates that threaten people’s basic human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The government’s approach risks violating the rights to health, education, and social security, and…
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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…
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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

UN Rights Body Should Increase Scrutiny of Cambodia’s Rights Crackdown

Item 10 Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia

Cambodia’s human rights situation has dramatically worsened since the last Council resolution on Cambodia in 2019. Human Rights Watch has condemned draconian laws adopted in the past two years under the guise of the Covid-19 pandemic that are among…
Delegates sit at the opening of the 41th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 24, 2019.
News

Left With Fish Too Small to Sell in Cambodia’s Mekong River Basin

How a China-Built Dam Destroyed an Ecosystem and Livelihoods

Thousands have lost their homes and livelihoods since the completion of one of Asia’s widest dams, the Lower Sesan 2, in Cambodia’s Mekong River Basin. Built as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the dam, which spans well over six kilometers…
Aerial shot of the Lower Sesan 2 dam.
News

Cambodia: China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Dam is a Rights Disaster

Indigenous and Ethnic Groups Coerced, Poorly Compensated

(Bangkok) – A large-scale, Chinese-financed hydroelectric dam in northeastern Cambodia, completed in 2018, has undermined the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Indigenous and ethnic minority people, Human Rights Watch said in a report…
An aerial view of a village partially underwater
Report

Underwater

Summary “Dao,” an ethnic Lao man in his 40s, previously lived a largely self-sufficient life in the village of Srekor in northeastern Cambodia’s Stung Treng province. He fished on the Sesan River and farmed rice and fruit on the fertile soil along…
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Cambodia: No Justice At 5-Year Anniversary of Kem Ley’s Death

July 9, 2021 Today, in advance of the fifth anniversary of the unlawful killing of prominent political commentator and human rights defender Kem Ley, the 45 undersigned organizations reiterate their call for the Cambodian authorities to create an…
Cambodian people mourning the death of political commentator and human rights defender, Kem Ley, who was shot on July 10, 2016 (credit: LICADHO)
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