10/10/2025 – In September 2025, California's first law acknowledging transnational repression as a threat passed through the state legislature. If passed, SB 509 would require the state to develop training to help law enforcement recognize and respond to transnational repression. 

While the bill has received strong support from Sikh advocacy organization, it has been critiqued by several Hindu advocacy groups who argue that the bill is too broad and could result in profiling by police. 

California Awaits Decision on Transnational Repression Bill, Fresno and Central Valley Advocates Say More Work Lies Ahead
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9/18/2025 – While visiting family in July, Chinese international student and activist Zhang Yadi disappeared in Yunnan province. Zhang, who had been studying in France,  is an editor for the digital platform Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet. Rights and advocacy groups, including Human Rights Watch, fear that Zhang was taken by state security on suspicion of "endangering national security." 

A Chinese International Student and Activist Goes Missing During a Trip Home

9/2/2025 – Through a series of interviews of Cambodian nationals living in Japan, Human Rights Watch found that Cambodian authorities are harassing Cambodians living in Japan who are publicly critical of the Cambodian government, as well as harassing their relatives living in Cambodia. HRW calls on the Japanese government to "rebuke" Cambodia's government for its acts of transnational repression, as well as to adopt measures to better protect Cambodians living in Japan.

Japan: Cambodian Authorities Harass Exiled Dissidents

3/5/2025 – In late February 2025, Thailand deported several dozen Uyghur men to China, despite warnings from the United Nations about the potential human rights abuses they faced upon return. Though Thailand claimed that these men returned voluntarily, the Guardian spoke with the family of a man thought to have been deported who said it was "impossible" that these detainees would want to be sent back to China. China has been accused of committing various human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities living in the Xinjiang region.  

Thailand Condemned for 'Shameful' Mass Deportation of Uyghur Refugees in China

7/24/2024 – In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election in Venezuela, the kidnapping and killing of regime opponents is taking place outside the physical borders of the country, at the hands of criminal gangs tied to the Maduro government. This  article  particularly focuses on the kidnapping and murder of Ronald Ojeda in February, a former army lieutenant turned dissident living in Chile at the time of his death. The suspected perpetrators are members of a Venezuelan criminal gang, Tren de Aragua. 

Maduro Allies Hunt Dissidents Abroad Ahead of Venezuela's Election

3/17/2022 – ​A 2022 investigation by ProPublica discusses several high-profile cases related to transnational repression of Chinese dissidents living in the United States. Specifically, the piece details the charges brought against Shujun Wang, a dissent leader who is accused of spying on fellow activists in the United States for the past 17 years. ProPublica places this case, along with others involving a congressional candidate on Long Island and a sculptor in Southern California, within a broader trend of Chinese spies recruiting and equipping U.S. operatives for the purpose of targeting Chinese Americans. 

​DOJ Charges Defendants with Harassing and Spying on Chinese Americans for Beijing 

3/27/2023 – The "Abu Dhabi Secrets"  investigation series, which went public in 2023, revealed that the United Arab Emirates was financing a "smear campaign" against  opponents of the state. This campaign targeted over a thousand people and hundreds of organizations, and alleged that they had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Author David D. Kirkpatrick's article describes one such individual who's name was repeatedly linked to terrorism, Hazim Nada, and the hacked documents that ultimately revealed the coordinated effort between the UAE and a Geneva-based private intelligence outfit to financially ruin Nada's business. 

The Dirty Secrets of a Smear Campaign

4/28/2023 – Authors Yana Gorokhovskaia and Nate Schenkkan discuss the cases of Paul Rusesabagina and Leopold Munyakazi, who were both imprisoned in Rwanda for their vocal criticism of Rwanda's president Paul Kagame. While Rusesabagina was abducted by the Rwandan government while in transit to Dubai, Munyakazi was returned to Rwanda by the U.S. government in 2016. 

How Democratic Govts Become Complicit in Transnational Repression: Another Rwanda-US Case