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Bill Frelick

@billfrelick.bsky.social

2.7K followers 770 following 150 posts

Director, Refugee and Migrant Rights Division, Human Rights Watch

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Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 1d

"Education should never be used as a political pawn & parents should not have to worry from one year to the next if their children will be able to go to school." @michellerandhawa.bsky.social @hrw.org in "How Syrian children are being shut out of Lebanon's classrooms" www.newarab.com/analysis/how...

How Syrian children are being shut out of Lebanon’s classrooms

Government restrictions have effectively barred tens of thousands of Syrian children from school in Lebanon, as NGOs step in to teach those left behind

www.newarab.com

Reposted by Bill Frelick

Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · 1d

Lebanon's new government has emphasized the importance of quality education. But in a disappointing move, the government recently restricted access to education for many refugees.

All children, regardless of immigration status, have a right to education.

Lebanon Restricts Education Access for Many Refugees

The new government in Lebanon, formed this February under Prime Minster Nawaf Salam, has emphasized the importance of quality education for students in Lebanon and committed to providing all children ...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 2d

The domino effect of the US door slam on refugee resettlement: Pakistan sends Afghans awaiting U.S. resettlement back to Taliban persecution. wapo.st/4mOAxH2

Afghans awaited U.S. resettlement. Pakistan sent them back to the Taliban.

More than 1 million Afghans have been pressured to leave or deported by Pakistan. Many were former U.S. contractors approved for U.S. resettlement, now on hold under Trump.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 7d

“The military’s atrocities are well known, but the ArakanArmy now appears 2B imposing its own system of oppression in...Rakhine... No govt shld B pushing 4 premature or coercive returns, which would only set the stage 4 the next devastating exodus.” Shayna Bauchner @hrw.org
tob.news/arakan-armys...

Arakan Army’s Rohingya genocide

The testimonies follow a grim pattern: executions, sexual violence, looting, villages set ablaze, and bodies disposed of to erase evidence.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 8d

“The situation for Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State remains dire. UN members should make clear at the conference that forcing Rohingya to return to Myanmar under these conditions would place their lives at risk and violate their rights.” @loucharb.bsky.social @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

UN: Support Protection, Justice for Rohingya

United Nations member states meeting on September 30, 2025, on the plight of Rohingya Muslims should commit to urgent action to protect them from persecution and violence.

Reposted by Bill Frelick

Lauren Seibert @laurenseibert.bsky.social · 12d

“Each state will try to divert responsibilities onto the next” until “there’ll be no space for protection for people whose… govts are persecuting them” - @hrw.org @billfrelick.bsky.social on Trump admin’s calls to decimate asylum system @washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Trump administration calls for radical reform of world’s asylum system

Critics of the plan said they fear it would put vulnerable people at risk of being deported to countries where they could face torture and persecution.

www.washingtonpost.com

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 12d

“Time is running out to stop Haiti from falling entirely into the hands of abusive criminal groups,” said Nathalye Cotrino, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch. @hrw.org
www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

UN Security Council: Move Urgently to Protect Haitians

The United Nations Security Council should rapidly authorize an international mission to confront escalating violence in Haiti, and ensure it has sufficient funding, personnel, and robust human rights...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 16d

"States gathering for the General Assembly opening should reject the US invitation to trash the post-World War II global refugee system." My thoughts on a US invitation to a high-level meeting to "fix" the global refugee and asylum system: www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Trump Administration Seeks to Rewrite Global Refugee Rules

The Unitedd States government is inviting government delegations to a high-level meeting on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in what looks like the first step in a bid to tear down t...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 22d

"The European Commission has noted the narrowing space in Greece for groups working with migrants and asylum seekers. It should now take a stronger stance over the issue and press Greece to stop harassing civil society groups and activists." @evacosse.bsky.social @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Greece’s Latest Assault on Civil Society

Greece’s Migration Minister Thanos Plevris recently announced his intention to adopt new measures to silence criticism of the government’s migration policies.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 27d

Pakistan’s govt should provide assistance to at least 4 million people displaced by recent flooding, but also take action to prevent foreseeable harms, including from climate change and extreme weather events. @hrw.org @saroopijaz.bsky.social
www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Pakistan Floods Highlight Urgent Need for Reforms

Catastrophic floods from heavy rainfall in Pakistan this past week displaced at least four million people, destroyed thousands of acres of crops, and severely damaged critical infrastructure. At least...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · 28d

Wage theft against migrant workers remains one of the most widespread abuses in Saudi Arabia. Victims are rarely compensated for their legally owed wages and, even when they are, it can take years to receive them.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Saudi Arabia: Migrant Workers Unpaid for Months

Hundreds of migrant workers employed in Saudi Arabia by the manufacturing and supply company Sendan International did not receive their salaries for up to eight months.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Sep 2

The Japanese govt should establish support mechanisms so Cambodian exiles being harassed by the Cambodian govt have a place to turn for help and swiftly establish a national system to investigate cases of transnational repression. @teppeikasai.bsky.social @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Japan: Cambodian Authorities Harass Exiled Dissidents

Cambodian authorities are harassing Cambodians living in Japan who are publicly critical of Cambodia’s government, Human Rights Watch said today.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Sep 2

I ask: "Will the Red Cross...have to check documents be4 providing food & shelter 2 disaster-displaced people? Out of fear they will lose their jobs & their orgs their funding, will humanitarian workers avoid a darker-skinned person who asks 4 help in a foreign language?" www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

US Barriers to Disaster Aid Challenge Human Rights Principles

The Washington Post reports that the US government is requiring organizations receiving federal funding, including from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), not to “operate any program that...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Sep 2

“The Cambodian government is disregarding its international human rights commitments by wielding the threat of citizenship loss as a political weapon,” said Bryony Lau of @HRW.org. “Concerned governments should publicly weigh in w/ the Cambodian government to reverse this latest assault on dissent.”

Cambodia: Revised Law Endangers Citizenship

Cambodia’s National Assembly passed amendments to its citizenship law on August 25, 2025, that allow the government to silence dissent by reworking Cambodian citizenship.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Sep 2

A Venezuelan man went 2 a scheduled appointment at an ICE facility in El Paso to apply 4 asylum. However, he was shackled & put on a plane. “After the plane landed, I saw lots of barbed wire & fences. An immigration official said, ‘Welcome to Guantánamo.’ I was in shock.” www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

US: Migrants Face Abuse in Guantánamo

The United States should immediately halt the transfer of immigrant detainees to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, where they face abusive and inhumane detention conditions that may amount to ill...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 29

“I was so desperate that I tried to cut my wrists with the edges of plastic water bottles...,” one Guantánamo detainee told @hrw.org. Others said US officials never informed them they would be taken to GTMO and that they were held incommunicado in unsanitary conditions.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

US: Migrants Face Abuse in Guantánamo

The United States should immediately halt the transfer of immigrant detainees to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, where they face abusive and inhumane detention conditions that may amount to ill...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 29

New rules barring disaster assistance to undocumented immigrants raise a core values question: Is there any universal humanitarian principle that takes precedence over the raw animus toward undocumented people that now seems to be a bedrock principle of US govt policy? www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

US Barriers to Disaster Aid Challenge Human Rights Principles

The Washington Post reports that the US government is requiring organizations receiving federal funding, including from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), not to “operate any program that...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 29

India: Scores of Rohingya Refugees Expelled: “The actions taken against these refugees, who have fled atrocities and persecution in Myanmar, reflects the ruling BJP’s policy to demonize Muslims as ‘illegal’ migrants.” @elainepearson.bsky.social, Asia director @hrw.org. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

India: Scores of Rohingya Refugees Expelled

Indian authorities have expelled scores of ethnic Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh and Myanmar without rights protections since May 2025.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 28

Some good news: Thailand Allows Myanmar Refugees in Camps to Work Legally www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Thailand Allows Myanmar Refugees in Camps to Work Legally

On August 26, Thailand’s cabinet approved measures allowing Myanmar refugees living in camps along the border to work legally. For many, it will be the first formal employment of their lives.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Mauritania's security forces have been systematically abusing migrants..., a Human Rights Watch @hrw.org report says. The violations have been exacerbated by a deal w/ the EU & Spain, which aims 2 curb dangerous sea crossings 2 the Canary Islands, the rights group alleges."
bbc.com/news/article...

EU deal fuelling Mauritania's abuse of migrants - Human Rights Watch

The West African nation's security forces are accused of alleged rape, extortion and torture.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 28

"This is one of the most alarming demonstrations that the Libyan Coast Guard is not a reliable or professional search-and-rescue corps but rather an abusive and unaccountable organization. The EU and Italy should stop financing & legitimizing the Libyan Coast Guard."

Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · Aug 28

The rescue organization SOS MEDITERRANEE reported that a Libyan Coast Guard patrol boat opened fire on their ship as it was heading toward a boat in distress.

This is an alarming demonstration that the Libyan Coast Guard is not a reliable search-and-rescue corps.

Learn more ⤵️

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 27

The human toll of European externalization efforts to contain migrant and refugee movements in Africa. A new @hrw.org report on migration control abuses in Mauritania.

Lauren Seibert @laurenseibert.bsky.social · Aug 27

🚨 New @hrw.org report documents years of serious abuses by security forces in #Mauritania against West & Central African migrants, while those same authorities received equipment/support 💰 from the EU & #Spain to bolster border control & prevent irregular migration
🧵👇
www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 27

An enjoyable read: "They’ve come from all over the globe, escaping war & turmoil..., & one of the first stops is Emma’s Torch, a nonprofit named for Emma Lazarus,...who wrote the poem...on the Statue of Liberty...In the kitchen around Chef Bri..., they are literally a huddled mass. wapo.st/45EBywc

This cafe helps refugees find a foothold through culinary training

The cafe with locations in D.C. and New York is giving refugees a runway to employment.

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 12

Persecution of women in Afghanistan shows that gender should be a ground for refugee protection. Why doesn’t the US Board of Immigration Appeals see that? My thoughts in this op-ed in @thehill.com

@billfrelick.bsky.social @hrw.org

thehill.com/opinion/immi...

Bill Frelick @billfrelick.bsky.social · Aug 12

My thoughts: the US Congress shld question why women shld have to shoehorn their claims into a narrow understanding of membership of a particular social group & thereby have less consistent or predictable protection than racial, religious, nationality & political groups. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

US Should Fix the Gender Gap in Refugee Protection

In a recent decision denying asylum to a Salvadoran woman being stalked by gang members, the Board of Immigration Appeals — the highest administrative body for interpreting U.S. immigration law — foun...