Honors Student Christopher Parisella
President of URI Amnesty International
Meets Senator Jack Reed on March 18, 2019
March 18, 2019
Dear Senator Reed,
Thank you for meeting with us to discuss: (1) Asylum Seekers Rights at the US Border and (2) the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen especially for children. Amnesty International USA has identified these two major areas as the most in need of support from legislators.
As students with the Amnesty International URI organization, we seek to further the understanding of human rights within the URI community and educate our community on how to most effectively protect human rights and affect change.
(1) Asylum Seekers Rights
- A Call to uphold the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951. Asking the Senator to respect the rights to seek asylum of all; and to refrain from appropriating additional funds that make it more difficult for asylum seekers to process their cases.
- Demanding immediate stop to the practice of turning away asylum seekers at the border.
- Calling on legislators to lift the “remain in Mexico” deal, as this is found to be against international law and US law, and puts asylum seekers health and well-being at risk of irreparable harm.
- Reject funding that supports detention of children and the separation of families at the border.
(2) Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen
- Amnesty International is making a global effort to influence legislators to support the Saudi Arabia Accountability in Yemen Act (or the Menendez-Yang Bill). Pass S 398 Act.
- A call to place on the calendar a Companion Bill to the Menendez-Yang Bill that will call for:
- US to stop re-fueling Saudi jets in the area and
- Holds them accountable for war crimes and human rights reporting.
Sincerely,
Christopher Parisella, Amnesty International URI Co-President
Iqra Ishaq, Amnesty International URI Co-President
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