[Note: This post was updated on 25 Sept. 2025 with links to additional resources.]
The U.S. Department of State has published the
49th edition of the
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Normally released in the spring, this edition was "delayed as State Department officials worked under the orders of political appointees in the agency to cut language in the report. This year’s report, which covers actions in 2024, is much shorter and less detailed than last year’s,"
according to the
New York Times. Human Rights Watch
determined that "The report omits several categories of rights violations that were standard in past editions, including women, LGBT people, persons with disabilities, corruption in government, and freedom of peaceful assembly. The administration has also grossly mischaracterized the human rights records of abusive governments with which it has or is currently seeking friendly relations."
Appendix A of
the report sets out the "Notes on Preparation of the Country Reports and Explanatory Materials," which includes a list of the types of human rights violations that are covered. While the current report includes a paragraph on "Protection to Refugees," when compared with the
2023 edition, there are notable changes to the wording used as well as deletions of the kinds of protection reviewed. Moreover, references to IDPs, stateless persons and
refoulement have been removed. Here are the relevant passages from this year's and last year's reports:
"c. Protection to Refugees
As defined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, refugees generally are persons outside their country of nationality or, if stateless, outside their country of former habitual residence, who are unable or unwilling to return to that country based on a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Under certain regional instruments, such as the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, the term 'refugee' may also refer to persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety, or freedom have been threatened by, among other things, generalized violence or internal conflict. The Protection to Refugees section covers abuse against refugees and asylum seekers. It also reviews the government’s extension of assistance and protection to refugees, including resettlement in another country."
"Protection of Refugees: As defined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, refugees generally are persons outside their country of nationality or, if stateless, outside their country of former habitual residence, who are unable or unwilling to return to that country based on a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Under certain regional instruments, such as the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, the term 'refugee' may also refer to persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety, or freedom have been threatened by, among other things, generalized violence or internal conflict. The Protection of Refugees section covers abuse and discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers. It also reviews the government’s extension of assistance and protection to refugees, including protection against refoulement, the provision of temporary protection, and support for voluntary repatriation, longer-term integration opportunities, and resettlement in another country.
'Protection against refoulement' refers to whether the government refrained from (1) expelling or returning a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group; or (2) expelling, returning, or extraditing a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (if applicable): This optional section is included if there were large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in a country. It covers the causes of displacement and number of IDPs, restrictions on their movement, targeting of specific groups, and any government failure to provide protection or humanitarian assistance to IDPs. It reports if IDPs suffered abuses of their human rights and whether the government promoted the safe, voluntary, and dignified return, resettlement, or local integration of IDPs.
Stateless Persons (if applicable): This section is included if a country has a significant number of habitual residents who are stateless (not recognized as nationals by any state under the operation of its law). It reviews whether the government has effectively implemented laws and policies to provide such persons the opportunity to gain nationality on a nondiscriminatory basis. The section examines, among other matters, whether there is violence or discrimination against members of resident stateless populations in employment, education, housing, health services, marriage or birth registration, access to courts, or the owning of property."
This
Politico article includes more examples of changes due to be made. The author also points to the likely impact of these changes: "The annual report is widely anticipated and read in capitals around the world, and it is relied upon heavily by advocacy organizations, lawyers and others who consider it a reliable, fact-based document. Asylum officers, for instance, use it to assess whether someone seeking protection has a credible fear of persecution should they be forced to return to their country." Now, "With the Trump administration’s changes, human rights activists worry about the quality of the report, and whether it can possibly convey a comprehensive snapshot of a country’s rights record."
And The Asylumist
notes, "The State Department Reports represent yet another example of our government institutions debasing themselves in slavish devotion to the President’s agenda. While the new Reports are bad news for asylum seekers, there are many other sources for more honest reporting on country conditions. Asylum seekers will need to rely on those sources to counter the anodyne State Department Reports, and to support their claims for protection. ."
This ECOI Blog
post provides a listing of additional commentary.
For background, CSIS has compiled a
helpful overview of what the human rights reports are, why they were created, how they are used, and how they have evolved over the years. The Congressional Research Service has also published an
In Focus with info on how the reports are prepared.
