Reports

Cuban and Other Third-Country Nationals Deported from the US to Mexico

The 66-page report, “‘Casting Us Aside to Die:’ Cuban and Other Third-Country Nationals Deported from the US to Mexico,” documents US government abuses against Cubans and other third-country nationals deported to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026. With no other recourse to obtain permanent residency in Mexico, many Cuban deportees, whose home government refuses to take them back, are trapped in a legal limbo. Since arriving in Mexico, they have received little if any government support, and many are without access to shelter, food, or health care.

A group of deported Cubans gather outside the Juan Graham Hospital in the city of Villahermosa, Mexico, March 2026.
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

Search

  • December 10, 2002

    Australian Asylum Policy

    Many refugees who come uninvited to Australia are compelled to do so because they cannot find effective protection anywhere else, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released to mark International Human Rights Day.
  • November 19, 2002

    North Koreans in the People's Republic of China

    China must end the forcible return of North Korean asylum-seekers and the arrest and harassment of aid workers who assist them, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

  • September 26, 2002

    Why the International Community Should Reject Australia's Refugee Policies

    The government of Australia has taken increasingly aggressive measures in recent years to prevent unauthorized asylum seekers from reaching its shores. One year ago, on September 26, 2001, it enacted new legislation that extended the legal basis for its policies, which are among the most restrictive in the developed world.
  • July 5, 2002

    The Arbitrary Application of Spanish Immigration Law

    The Human Rights Watch report, "Discretion Without Bounds: The Arbitrary Implementation of Spanish Immigration Law," criticizes the Spanish authorities' uncoordinated and ad hoc application of Spanish Law 8/2000.
  • March 1, 2002

    We recognize the many challenges presented by the pressures of increased migration and the government's commitment to honor international protection obligations. We believe that efficient immigration management and potential national security concerns can be reconciled with the protection of fundamental human rights guarantees for migrants and asylum seekers.
  • February 21, 2002

    Rights Violations Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers

    The government of Spain is violating the rights of migrants and asylum seekers who arrive illegally on Spanish shores, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
  • October 18, 2001

    The Impact of the September 11 Attacks on Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants in the Afghanistan Region and Worldwide

    The backlash against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants throughout the world is a serious side effect of the September 11 attacks. While governments have legitimate security concerns, there must be a balance with human rights and refugee protection standards.
  • August 31, 2001

    Backgrounder for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance

    Throughout the world, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and internally displaced persons are the victims of racial discrimination, racist attacks, xenophobia and ethnic intolerance. Racism is both a cause and a product of forced displacement, and an obstacle to its solution.
  • December 12, 2000

    How countries treat those who have been forced to flee persecution and human rights abuse elsewhere is a litmus test of their commitment to defending human rights and upholding humanitarian values.

  • November 17, 2000

    The November 24-25 summit in Zagreb, with the participation of fifteen European Union (E.U.) states and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia, provides a unique opportunity for the E.U.
  • October 1, 1998

    Burmese Refugees in Thailand

    At almost no time since Burmese asylum seekers started arriving on Thai soil in 1984 has the need for protection of this group been greater. Human rights violations inside Burma continue almost a decade after the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) seized power in Burma in September 1988
  • March 1, 1998

    Abuse of Undocumented Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees in South Africa

    Unpunished attacks on foreigners in South Africa are disturbingly common; and foreigners are regularly victimized by the South African police,the army, and by guards at detention facilities. Detention conditions for migrants awaiting deportation are substandard and overcrowded. South Africa's treatment of refugees is also troubling, and fails to conform with international standards.
  • October 1, 1997

    For over a year, Human Rights Watch investigated and monitored French asylum policies, conducting numerous interviews with lawyers, human rights advocates, refugee assistance organizations, asylum seekers, and government officials. In the course of this work, we have identified several aspects of French asylum policy that contravene governing international standards.