Human Rights Challenges Facing Syrian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

Hearing
Date:
Location:
340 Cannon House Office Building

Announcement

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a briefing on the dire human rights situation facing Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Since the beginning of 2013, there has been a staggering increase in the numbers of refugees fleeing Syria—one million of the total 1.6 million Syrian refugees in the region fled in the first six months of 2013. This mass outflow of people and major internal displacement has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis.

This briefing will highlight the persecution of minorities among the refugees, the enormous strain on host communities and local services in the region, the growing rate of gender based violence and the humanitarian response. We will also hear about the human rights crisis inside Syria and the challenges facing internally displaced Syrians struggling to reach safety and cross borders.

The panelists were part of a delegation that recently returned from a trip to Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Meetings with camp and urban refugees, host community residents and officials, as well as aid organizations active in the region, gave them a unique perspective on current human rights and humanitarian challenges facing Syrian refugees and IDPs.

If you have any questions, please contact Katya Migacheva in Rep. McGovern's office at katya.migacheva@mail.house.gov or 202-225-3599, or Kalinda Stephenson in Rep. Wolf's office at kalinda.stephenson@mail.house.gov or 202-225-5136.

Hosted by:

James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
Frank R. Wolf
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
Witnesses

Panelists

  • Jana Mason, Senior Advisor for Government Relations and External Affairs, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • Beth Ferris, Senior Foreign Policy Fellow and co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, The Brookings Institution
  • Tiffany Lynch, Senior Policy Analyst, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
  • Sahar Chaudry, Policy Analyst, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Related Items
The Human Rights Crisis in Syria
Human Rights in Syria

Contact The Commission

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
4150 O'Neill House Office Building
200 C Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20515
United States of America

Phone: +1 (202) 225-3599
TLHRC@mail.house.gov

Accessibility

The Commission seeks to make its events, meetings and hearings accessible to persons with disabilities.

If you are in need of special accommodations, please call (202) 225-3599 at least four business days in advance.

Questions with regard to special accommodations in general (including availability of Commission materials in alternative formats and assistive listening devices, sign language interpretation, etc.) may be directed to the Commission.

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