Bill Frelick, director of refugee programs for the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch, will present an overview of the global refugee crisis and delve into the current Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. in the Cherokee Park Ballroom of the  Lory Student Center. His talk, which is sponsored by the Office of International Programs, is free and open to the public.

HRW is an international organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, It is headquartered in New York with office around the world.

Frelik will discuss how HRW monitors, investigates and documents human rights abused against refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons, and advocated for the rights and humanitarian needs of all categories of forcibly displaced persons.

Before joining HRW, Frelick directed Amnesty International USA’s refugee program and the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR), which he served for 18 years, and was the editor of USCR’s annual World Refugee Survey and monthly Refugee Reports. He taught in the Middle East from 1979 to 1983 and was co-coordinator of the Asian Center of Clergy and Laity Concerned from 1976-79. Frelick has a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.A. from Columbia University.