Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Greece: Smuggling charges against humanitarian workers who saved refugees must be dropped
Responding to the release on bail of volunteers and staff who provided life-saving assistance to refugees, Kondylia Gougou, Amnesty International’s Greece Researcher said: “Whilst we welcome the news that these dedicated humanitarians will be back with their families tonight after more than 100 days behind bars, the fact that they still face absurd charges and potentially long prison sentences is an outrage. “This case is just the latest example of how authorities are mis-using anti-smuggling laws to target activists and criminalize rescue. To detain dedicated volunteer humanitarians who helped people in need defies logic. People who selfless act in these ways should be…
December 4, 2018
Press Release
Amnesty International launches world’s biggest human rights campaign
Women human rights defenders around the world are facing unprecedented levels of abuse, intimidation and violence, said Amnesty International as it launched its global Write for Rights campaign, in a bid to shine a spotlight on brave women who have been harassed, jailed, tortured or even killed for their human rights work. Women continue to face multiple forms of discrimination, targeted because of their gender and other characteristics, as well as for their human rights work. However, women refuse to stay silent and have been at the forefront of the battle for human rights in 2018. “Across the world, women are…
November 28, 2018
Press Release
US government endangers asylum seekers with unlawful policies
Unlawful US border policies are leaving thousands of asylum seekers stranded in Mexico, where they are facing threats of deportation to their countries of origin, where they potentially face serious harm, Amnesty International said today following a research mission last week. Conditions could only worsen under a reported deal between both countries that, if agreed, would force asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed, rather than allow them to enter the United States. As a result of Amnesty International’s research focusing on the treatment of refugees and migrants in the caravans in Guatemala, the southern Mexican state…
November 26, 2018
Report
Papua New Guinea: Australian and PNG leaders must act urgently to save lives on Manus Island
The misery of indefinite detention in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is pushing increasing numbers of refugees and people seeking asylum to suicide attempts and self-harm, a new report by the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) and Amnesty International finds today. In the report, Until when? The forgotten men on Manus Island, RCOA and Amnesty International paint a stark picture of a traumatized refugee population which has been hit hard by Australia’s recent healthcare and counselling service cuts, as well as continued threats to their safety. “The worsening health and safety crisis on Manus Island demonstrates that Australia’s offshore processing system has failed.…
November 21, 2018
Press Release
Court Grants Temporary Relief to Desperate Families Seeking Asylum
In response to a court decision temporarily blocking the Trump administration from denying asylum to people seeking protection arriving between ports of entry, Amnesty International USA executive director Margaret Huang issued this statement.
November 20, 2018
Press Release
This World Children’s Day, Children Must be Safe and Free from Detention
Ahead of World Children’s Day on November 20, Amnesty International is calling for all children currently being held at the Dilley Detention Center to be freed with their families, and for the USA to end its plan of expanding family detention centers. The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, is currently the largest immigration detention center in the United States, holding hundreds of families. The capacity for the Center is now at 2,400 beds. Seven-year-old Mario is one of the children that remains behind bars at Dilley after being separated from his mother, Andrea, for 73 days for…
November 19, 2018
Press Release
Libya: Refugees and migrants refuse to disembark ship in desperate plea to avoid detention and torture
Libyan, European and Panamanian authorities must ensure that at least 79 refugees and migrants who are on board a merchant vessel at the port of Misratah are not forced to disembark to be taken to a Libyan detention centre where they could face torture and other abuse, said Amnesty International today. The refugees and migrants, including a number of children, were found as they attempted to reach Europe by boat across the Mediterranean. Amnesty International understands that Italian and Maltese maritime authorities were involved in the operation, carried out by the merchant ship Nivin. Flying a Panamanian flag, the Nivin…
November 16, 2018
Press Release
Myanmar: Rohingya returns plan puts thousands at risk
Bangladesh and Myanmar authorities must immediately halt plans to send Rohingya refugees back to Rakhine State, Amnesty International said today.
November 14, 2018
Press Release
Cruel European migration policies leave refugees trapped in Libya with no way out
A year after shocking images purporting to show human beings being bought and sold in Libya caused a global outcry, the situation for migrants and refugees in the country remains bleak and in some respects has worsened, said Amnesty International. Findings published by the organization today highlight how EU member states’ policies to curb migration, as well as their failure to provide sufficient resettlement places for refugees, continue to fuel a cycle of abuse by trapping thousands of migrants and refugees in appalling conditions in Libyan detention centres. “One year after video footage showing human beings being bought and sold like merchandise shocked the world,…
November 12, 2018
Press Release
Trump’s Proclamation to Restrict the Rights of People Seeking Asylum
In response to President Trump’s Proclamation to limit the rights of people seeking asylum along the Southern border, Amnesty International´s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said: “President Trump’s Proclamation is yet another attempt to destroy the United States´ long tradition to guarantee the fundamental human right to seek protection from life-threatening fear and persecution. Asylum is not a loophole, it is a lifeline. This policy needlessly places the lives of thousands of people in danger. U.S law states that any individual can seek asylum, whether or not they are at an official point of entry. “Beyond Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric are mothers,…
November 8, 2018
Press Release
President Trump must abandon plan to close southern border to Central Americans seeking asylum
In response to reports that President Trump plans to take executive action blocking refugees and people seeking asylum from Central America from entering the United States to request protection, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said: “The Trump administration is defying international law and manufacturing a crisis at the border by proposing policies that would cause catastrophic and irreparable harm to thousands of families who had no choice but to leave home in order to keep their children safe from harm.” “President Trump has shown callous disregard for the plight of those making this dangerous journey from Honduras and…
October 26, 2018
Press Release
Hungary: Amnesty launches legal challenge to shameful law on migration that targets civil society
Amnesty International will challenge in court the constitutionality of Hungary’s controversial law that criminalizes with up to one year in prison, individuals and organizations working on migration, the organization announced today. The law, which came into effect earlier this year, is a threat to the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. “The Hungarian authorities’ are persistently intimidating those who challenge their xenophobic policies. This law takes this intimidation campaign a step further by criminalizing their legitimate work to protect the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees” said Clare Algar, Europe Director at Amnesty International. The complaint, which was…
October 15, 2018