Press Releases

Hong Kong: Authorities Must Exercise Restraint and End Violent Sieges on Universities

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is gravely concerned about a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on Hong Kong’s university campuses, and calls on government and university authorities to take immediate steps to de-escalate violence and to ensure the safety and well-being

Free to Think 2019: Distressing phenomenon of attacks on higher education demands global action

New York, NY — Scholars at Risk announces the release of Free to Think 2019, a report analyzing 324 attacks on higher education communities in 56 countries between September 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019. “Attacks on higher education communities

Threats to Academic Freedom Jeopardize China’s Higher Education Ambitions

Scholars at Risk announces the release of Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom & China’s Quest for World Class Universities, a new report mapping threats to academic freedom that jeopardize China’s higher education ambitions.

Capacity-building gift from the Charles Koch Foundation

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is pleased to announce a capacity-building gift from the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF). The gift will allow SAR to strengthen the network office, which has been under pressure to keep up with increasing attacks on higher

Egypt: End Probationary Measures Against Waleed K. Salem

Waleed K. Salem is a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington who was arrested while conducting dissertation research in Cairo in May 2018 and detained without charge until December 2018. Following his release, he has been required to regularly

Concerns About Restrictions on Scholars’ Ability to Travel to the West Bank

International faculty at Palestinian universities have faced increasingly opaque and arbitrary limitations on their ability to remain in or return to the West Bank to continue teaching activities. These limitations threaten significant harm to Palestinian higher education. Scholars at Risk

Iran: Release Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali

On July 29, 2019, Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, a scholar of disaster medicine sentenced to death in Iran, was unexpectedly transferred to an undisclosed location, where he was reportedly held in solitary confinement. Dr. Djalali’s wife reports that authorities attempted to

Statement in Response to Report the FBI Is Urging Universities to Monitor Chinese Students and Scholars

August 12, 2019 – According to recent public reports, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other government officials have advised some U.S. universities to develop protocols for monitoring students and scholars from Chinese state-affiliated research institutions. This move seemingly

SAR calls for action to counter mass targeting of higher education communities in Turkey

July 30, 2019 | New York, NY – Scholars at Risk (SAR), in partnership with the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University, has filed a submission with the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR), highlighting pressures and attacks on higher

Hold Saudi Arabia Accountable for Rights Violations

Scholars at Risk and 39 other human rights organizations have sent the below letter to 48 ministries of foreign affairs, urging them to adopt a resolution in the UN’s Human Rights Council to report on human rights violations in Saudi

SAR Expresses Concern About Legislative Threats to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Proposed legislation submitted to Hungarian Parliament for consideration on June 4, 2019 threatens the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) and the academic freedom of thousands of scientists and researchers in Hungary. Scholars at Risk (SAR) has issued the below letter

Scholars at Risk Network to Establish SAR Slovakia Section

May 14, 2019 – Leaders from universities across Slovakia will convene on May 23, 2019 at Art Books Coffee in Bratislava to launch the Slovakia section of Scholars at Risk (SAR). The launch is organized by the Bratislava Policy Institute, which will act

Iran: SAR Calls for Action Against Attacks on Higher Education Communities

April 16, 2019 | New York, NY — Scholars at Risk (SAR), in cooperation with the Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham, has filed a submission with the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, highlighting attacks and pressures

Egypt: Attacks on Academic Freedom Require Global Response

April 10, 2019 | New York, NY — Scholars at Risk (SAR) and the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression in Egypt (AFTE) have filed a joint submission with the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR), highlighting attacks and

Release Women’s Rights Activists in Saudi Arabia

Scholars at Risk joins over 50 other human rights organizations in calling for the immediate release of Saudi women’s rights activists including scholar Hatoon Al-Fassi. Hatoon Al-Fassi is an Associate Professor of women’s history at King Saud University who has