Global Humanitarian Protection

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We advance human rights, refugee, and humanitarian law to protect people facing persecution and displacement around the globe, including refugees, other forcibly displaced people, at-risk migrants, and people impacted by climate change.

In partnership with refugee-led, faith-based, humanitarian, legal, and human rights organizations worldwide, we develop policy and legal analysis, build coalitions, and mobilize civil society and governments to uphold international law and safeguard human lives.

Our Global Humanitarian Protection work functions in close coordination with our Human Rights Defenders and Refugee & Immigrant Rights programs, recognizing that displacement, repression, and access to asylum are interconnected. Together, these programs align advocacy, legal analysis, and coalition-building to strengthen protections across borders and contexts.

treaties and international law

We collaborate with civil society organizations globally to champion human rights, humanitarian, and refugee treaties. Together, we galvanize States to stand up for them and advance recommendations to improve implementation in rights-respecting ways.

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International Human Rights

Dec 5, 2025

Upholding Not Undermining International Law: Civil Society Open Letter to States (December 2025, reissued)

In advance of Human Rights Day on December 10, the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review in mid-December 2025, and the 75th Anniversary of the Refuge Convention in 2026, over 300 faith-based, non-governmental, and other civil society organizations joined an open letter to UN Member States calling on them to uphold, preserve, strengthen, and celebrate international refugee, human […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Sep 22, 2025

Threats to Refugee and Human Rights Treaties and the Rules-Based Order

With the high-level UN General Assembly meeting this week, the pending Trump administration “review” of U.S. membership in international organizations and treaties, and reports of a Trump administration attempt to enlist UN Member States in undoing refugee treaties, the risks to the multi-lateral rules-based order are escalating. UN Member States, the UN itself, civil society […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Sep 4, 2025

Global Coalition of More than 100 Urges African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to Issue Resolution on Illegal U.S. Migrant Transfer Agreements

On September 3, 2025, the Global Strategic Litigation Council (Council) and Human Rights First, together with more than 100 allied human rights organizations and individual experts, submitted a joint letter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). The letter urges the ACHPR to intervene by issuing a formal resolution in response to […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Jun 4, 2024

Human Rights First Decries Biden Administration’s Border Proclamation

WASHINGTON – Today, the Biden Administration announced its issuance of a proclamation and joint Departments of Justice and Homeland Security interim final rule to bar people who cross the border outside ports of entry from asylum. This policy will unlawfully block refugees from seeking asylum and return them to persecution in violation of U.S. asylum […]

REFUGEE PROTECTION GLOBALLY

We advocate for the protection of the rights of refugees, report on rights violations, and advance concrete improvements and policy solutions, including for refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, LGBTQIA+ refugees, and those displaced by climate change.

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International Human Rights

Nov 3, 2025

The Human Cost of Aid Cuts: Syrians Fleeing to Lebanon After the Fall of Assad

In the wake of the Assad government’s fall in December 2024, I travelled to Syria in April 2025 to hear directly about the challenges the country was facing, further compounded by a devastating collapse in humanitarian aid. Among the places I visited was Serekaniye Camp near Al-Hasakeh city, which serves as the roughest of accommodations […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Feb 22, 2025

Unlawful Deportations of Asylum Seekers to Panama, Costa Rica and Elsewhere Must Stop

Washington, D.C. — In the wake of reports that the Trump administration has deported people seeking asylum from religious and other persecution to Panama and other countries, Human Rights First calls on the administration to stop unlawful deportations, end its 212(f) proclamation, and uphold the laws enacted by Congress to protect people from persecution. The organization also […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Apr 1, 2024

Pakistan Must Stop Sending Afghan Refugees Back to Danger

From Karachi to Peshawar to Quetta to Islamabad, millions of Afghans and other migrants have spent decades making their homes in Pakistan. Last year, the interim government of Pakistan announced a deportation order that most directly impacts Afghan residents, giving the 1.7 million undocumented Afghans residing in the country just 28 days to leave voluntarily […]

International Human Rights

Nov 14, 2022

Addressing the Human Rights Implications of Climate Change Displacement

Submission by Human Rights First to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Climate Change This document has been produced on the basis of Human Rights First’s experience representing, researching, and advocating for refugees and victims of human rights abuses in need of asylum, resettlement, or other humanitarian protections […]

RESETTLEMENT AND REGULAR PATHWAYS

We are building a cross-regional, multi-stakeholder coalition to expand resettlement for at-risk refugees; legal pathways for refugees, migrants, and people displaced by climate change; and support for communities hosting them.

resettlement and regular pathways

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Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Sep 29, 2025

Refugee Resettlement for Fiscal Year 2026: Refugee Populations At-Risk

The Trump administration should restart resettlement with a strong initiative to bring to safety Afghan, Nicaraguan, Sudanese, South Sudanese, and other at-risk refugees who qualify under the law as refugees. Refugees often face the threat of further persecution, violence, severe deprivation, or return to persecution while awaiting resettlement. For example, Afghan refugees left waiting in […]

International Human Rights

Nov 2, 2023

Human Rights First Calls on the U.S. to Protect Afghans in Pakistan

NEW YORK – Human Rights First strongly condemns Pakistan’s return of Afghan refugees to danger in their country and urges the U.S. government to respond by pressing Pakistan to halt returns that violate international law, increasing humanitarian support to refugees in Pakistan, and sharply ramping up expedited resettlement for at-risk Afghan refugees. “Pakistan’s forced return […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Apr 27, 2023

Human Rights First Welcomes Resettlement, Condemns Bars to Asylum Seekers

WASHINGTON – Human Rights First welcomes today’s announcement of the Biden administration’s plans to expand refugee resettlement and family reunification parole in the Americas while reiterating the organization’s call for the administration to abandon its planned asylum ban and the conduct of fast-track credible fear interviews in Border Patrol custody. “The Biden administration is rightly […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Jan 26, 2023

Leading by example, honoring commitments

Recommendations for the Biden Administration to Uphold Refugee Law at Home Two years since President Biden took office, his administration has taken some important initial steps toward ending Trump administration policies that subvert refugee law and endanger the lives of people seeking asylum. These steps include President Biden’s February 2021 executive order directing review of […]

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At a time of record global displacement and mounting restrictions on asylum, we deliver analysis and policy recommendations to strengthen refugee protection systems.

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Jul 9, 2024

Saving Lives, Ending Inefficiencies

Steps to Strengthen the U.S. Asylum Adjudication System Overview People seeking asylum in the United States now face multi-year delays as they wait for their asylum interviews and hearings. After filing asylum applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), people often wait over six years for an interview with an asylum officer, according to […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

May 16, 2012

The Road to Safety: Strengthening Protection for LGBTI Refugees in Uganda and Kenya

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) refugees are often among the most vulnerable and isolated of refugees. This is especially true in places where they are at heightened risk due to violent attacks, discrimination, and laws that criminalize same-sex relations. In addition, in many countries around the world, LGBTI refugees are targets of bias-motivated […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

May 6, 2022

Asylum Process Rule Includes Welcome Improvements, But Critical Flaws Remain to Be Resolved

On March 29, 2022, the Biden administration published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that creates a new process for asylum seekers entering the United States. The IFR contains significant improvements—including preserving access to immigration court removal hearings and establishing a status conference mechanism that encourages narrowing of issues—following comments from members of congress, UNHCR, Human […]

Refugee and Immigrant Rights

Jun 5, 2025

Trapped in Danger: Trump Administration Policies Endanger Persecuted LGBTQI+ People

Trapped in Danger: Trump Administration Policies Endanger Persecuted LGBTQI+ People LGBTQI+ people at risk of persecution have been effectively trapped in dangerous and life-threatening conditions due to a barrage of Trump administration executive orders. These orders are at odds with laws enacted by Congress to protect people fleeing persecution and treaties the United States has […]