(New York, January 17, 2008) – Libya’s decision on Wednesday to summarily deport all undocumented foreigners – perhaps more than 1 million people – risks exposing asylum seekers and those in need of protection to persecution and abuse in their own countries, Human Rights Watch said today. Forcible returns violate international law and Libya’s own commitment to protect refugees.

The United Nations has deemed 2003 the International Year of Fresh Water. Last March the World Water Forum was held in Japan to remind the World of an increasingly developing crisis. Half of the world’s population is living in unsafe sanitary conditions without access to clean water. A report, drawn up by the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, estimates that three billion of the world’s most deprived people live without access to proper sanitation. One billion of them have no access to safe water at all.