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Press Release

Responding to reports that President Donald Trump may seek to cap U.S. refugee admissions at no more than 25,000 refugees for Fiscal Year 2019, the lowest goal in the history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, Ryan Mace, Grassroots Advocacy and Refugee Specialist at Amnesty International USA stated: “The United States betrays both its values and long history of helping those escaping war, persecution, and horrific violence when it denies refuge to those for whom resettlement is the only option. The Administration’s policies are denying thousands of refugees a chance at a new life. Many refugees are also hoping to…

August 1, 2018

Press Release

In response to today’s damning coronial inquest findings into the tragic death of Hamid Khazaei, an Iranian man who died in Australia in 2014 from an infection acquired in the Manus Island detention centre, Amnesty International’s Refugee Researcher Kate Schuetze, who was present at the Brisbane court today, said: “The Coroner today outlined a litany of errors that lead to Hamid Khazaei’s death in 2014 following his detention in an Australian-run detention centre in Papua New Guinea. The inquest’s finding that Hamid’s death was completely preventable cannot be ignored by the Australian government.” “The Australian government has failed to provide adequate health…

July 30, 2018

Press Release

The House Appropriations Committee must reject all funding increases for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in next year’s budget for the Department of Homeland Security, Amnesty International urged in a letter as the committee prepares to mark up the FY19 DHS budget. The current bill proposes increased spending on border enforcement, including an unprecedented $5 billion for President Trump’s Border Wall, as well as funds for 44,000 ICE detention beds per day, a record high. “This bill will threaten asylum seekers at every turn. It will fuel this administration’s cruel policies of detaining, deporting,…

July 24, 2018

Press Release

Responding to the release of the final text for the Global Compact on Refugees, which was agreed by UN Member States, Charmain Mohamed, Head of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International, said: “The Global Compact was an ambitious endeavor that should have created a wholesale change in the way governments treat refugees. Sadly, world leaders were not up to the challenge of delivering the bold and brave solutions that are so urgently needed. “The final text simply entrenches the current unsustainable approach whereby wealthier states can pick and choose which, if any, measures they take to share responsibility. This will leave…

July 24, 2018

Press Release

Australia’s notorious policy of detaining refugees and people seeking asylum in horrific offshore detention centres is in danger of being replicated by other countries, including some EU member states which are seeking to force people rescued at sea to disembark at locations outside Europe where they would be exposed to serious human rights violations, said Amnesty International Australia. In an open letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, written to coincide with the 5thanniversary of Australia’s “Regional Resettlement Arrangement” on 19 July, the organisation urged EU heads of state to heed the lessons of the illegal Australian policy, which has…

July 19, 2018

Press Release

The international community cannot abandon the Afghan people who have fled conflict and violence at a time when civilian casualties continue at record highs, Amnesty International said today, calling on governments to halt forced returns to Afghanistan. According to UN figures just released, 1,692 people were killed in the first six months of 2018 – more than at any comparable period of time since records began being compiled a decade ago. Over that same period of time, 3,430 people were also injured. “Given the numbers of people who continue to be killed and injured in Afghanistan, it is unconscionable to…

July 16, 2018

Press Release

Ahead of President Trump’s visit to the UK this week, Amnesty International is calling for Theresa May to “stand up to Trump” and to put the Anglo-American diplomatic relationship on a new “intelligently critical” footing. Amnesty International UK called on the Prime Minister to take up key human rights issues when she meets the president for talks, including the US administration’s policy of detaining child migrants and the reinstatement and expansion of a highly controversial “global gag rule” affecting funding for international women’s health programs. Meanwhile, Amnesty International, a host of other groups and thousands of members of the public…

July 12, 2018

Report

Amnesty International has gathered extensive, credible evidence implicating Myanmar’s military Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and 12 other named individuals in crimes against humanity committed during the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State. The comprehensive report, “We Will Destroy Everything”: Military Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity in Rakhine State, Myanmar, calls for the situation in Myanmar to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution. “The explosion of violence – including murder, rape, torture, burning and forced starvation – perpetrated by Myanmar’s security forces in villages across northern Rakhine State was not the…

June 26, 2018

Press Release

The following can be attributed to Ryan Mace, Grassroots Advocacy & Refugee Specialist at Amnesty International USA: “This hateful policy is a catastrophe all around – not only for those who simply want to travel, work, or study here in the States, but for those seeking safety from violence as well. While this decision doesn’t address the separate and equally harmful ban on refugees, it cruelly traps people in conflict-afflicted countries and prevents them from seeking safety in the U.S. or being reunited with family. Some of the people banned from this policy are fleeing conflicts that the United States has had…

June 26, 2018

Press Release

Following the passing in Hungary of a package of punitive laws, including one criminalizing lawful migration-related work by activists and NGOs, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, Gauri van Gulik said: “It is a bitter irony that as the world marks World Refugee Day, the Hungarian Parliament voted today to introduce a law that targets organizations and individuals who support asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants. "Criminalizing essential and legitimate human rights work is a brazen attack on people seeking safe haven from persecution and those who carry out admirable work to help them. It is a new low point in an intensifying crackdown…

June 20, 2018

Press Release

This World Refugee Day, Amnesty International USA is calling on all people living in the United States to welcome refugees and asylum-seekers into their communities. While some elected leaders would have us believe that those seeking safety do not deserve to be welcomed here in the United States, we know this to be false. Every day, we see the tremendous popular support that exists for welcoming refugees and asylum seekers in towns, cities, and public squares around the country. On this World Refugee Day, Amnesty International USA urges individuals to take action to welcome those in search of safety into…

June 20, 2018

Update

In this edition of Human Rights on Capitol Hill: (1)   Family separation: Amnesty International demands that administration immediately halt family separation. (2)   North Korea: Amnesty International calls on Trump administration to raise human rights in all discussions with North Korea. (3)   Rohingya: Amnesty International urges Senate to quickly pass legislation holding Myanmar military officials accountable for atrocities against the Rohingya. (4)   Syria: U.S.-led coalition against IS failed to take basic precautions to minimize civilian deaths and casualties in Raqqa. (5)   Refugees: Amnesty International presents June 14 Hill briefing on worldwide refugee trends. (6)   Hungary: Hungary poised to implement draconian initiative aimed at criminalizing individuals who aid asylum…

June 18, 2018