Syria is the least and Israel is the most free country in the Middle East and North Africa region, while Turkey remains one of the worst performing countries of Europe, according to Freedom House.
The US-based international human rights watchdog released its 50th annual Freedom in the world report this week. It reviewed access to political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries and 15 territories between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 2022. The nations are rated as “free,” “partly free” or “not free” based on their scores out of 100. The watchdog listed three countries from the Middle East and North Africa region among “the worst of the worst” countries across the world: Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
