Refugees and Migrants
Human Rights Watch’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Division defends the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, displaced people, and migrants worldwide. We investigate rights violations arising from government attempts to divert, expel, or contain these people and defend the right to seek asylum. We investigate abuses against migrant workers, including trafficking. We defend migrants’ rights to have the personal and family lives they have built in their host country considered in expulsion decisions and their rights to non-discrimination respected wherever they may live. We seek to ensure governments use immigration detention as an exceptional measure of last resort and advocate for alternatives to detention. As growing numbers of people escape poverty, lawlessness, and environmental disaster but lack the protections of refugee status, we advocate for wider grounds for protection, as well as expanded pathways to safe and regular migration. Regardless of the reason for their movement, we insist that all people on the move be treated with dignity and respect for their basic human rights.
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Qatar: Wage Abuse Action Shortchanges Workers
Workers Still Owed Wages for Months After Informing Government of Abuse
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News
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Closing Camps Won’t Solve Kenya’s Refugee Problem
Government Should Protect Refugees, Not Send People Back to Dangerous Conditions
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US: End Misguided Public Health Border Expulsions
Biden Administration Returning Asylum Seekers to Harm
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Greece: Lead Contamination Threat to Migrants Unresolved
People Still Accommodated in Camp’s Contaminated Area
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Human Rights Watch Letter in Support of the California VISION Act
HRW Strongly Supports CA AB 937, the Voiding Inequality and Seeking Inclusion for Our Immigrant Neighbors (VISION) Act
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EU-UN Aid Conference Should Focus on Syrians’ Rights
Set Principled Framework for Aid, Protection, Justice
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Bangladesh: Refugee Camp Fencing Cost Lives in Blaze
Security Measures Should Be Proportionate, Not Cause Harm
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Immigration Detainees Hunger Strike Again As Canada Fails To Listen
Conditions in Quebec Detention Facility Even More Dire Because of Covid-19