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The headlines here in the UK are filled with grunts about the cancelled summer holidays. But around the world, restrictions have been even more disastrous.
New studies from the International Rescue Committee show that COVID-19 prevents others from fleeing violence, making routes even more damaging to fleeers and pushing others to return home in volatile situations.
Let’s stop for a moment the thousands of Uzbek migrants stranded on the Russian-Kazakh border as temperatures soar, or the 5,000 Congolese refugees stranded on the border with Uganda.
And it’s not just the borders that are closed. While other homeless people turned to social media to express their frustrations, governments around the world, including those in Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt and the United States, have threatened with significant restrictions on online freedom of expression.
Welcome to DemocracyWatch this fortnight, where openDemocracy and SourceMaterial combine attacks against democracy, human rights and the environment in the pandemic world.
Thanks for reading. The first step in the fight against tyranny is mutual education. With that in mind, send this email to one or two friends: the world that will emerge from the pandemic will be different, it’s up to us to make sure it’s worse.
The charge of preventing new pandemics over the next decade through protection and forests would account for only 2% of the estimated monetary damage caused by COVID-19, according to a new analysis.
The pandemic can delay the fight against global poverty by eight to ten years, according to a new UN-backed study. Researchers have found that at least 131 million more people can be pushed into non-monetary poverty in seventy countries, unless projected increases in starvation are avoided or reversed.
Malaysia All from major media manufacturers to Americans posting videos will now have to apply for a film production license and a film film certificate from the National Film Development Corporation.
This follows Al Jazeera’s recent documentary, “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown”, which highlighted the crackdown on migrant workers. Shortly after his release, Malaysian police opened an investigation into Al Jazeera and the hounds who produced the documentary.
Authorities arrested Rayhan Kabir, a Bangladeshi who criticized the country’s remedy for undocumented immigrants, the coronavirus pandemic, in the documentary. He’ll have to be deported.
China Chinese companies produce non-public protective devices for domestic and foreign consumers, forced labour from Uighurs and other minority groups.
Sri Lanka On 13 July, citizens began voting by mail before the general election on 5 August, which were postponed from April. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been accused of announcing authoritarian tendencies with army support. The country has been without parliament for almost five months.
Indonesia Since many shelters have closed due to coronavirus problems, other young people have had to fend for themselves. This has made life more harmful to young people on the street who are now even more vulnerable to sexual abuse.
Georgia In a vote boycotted through the opposition, Parliament expanded its questionable emergency powers until the end of the year. Opposition politicians have accused the ruling party of coronavirus to “strengthen authoritarian rule.”
Uzbeks say they are forced to write letters acquitting their superiors if they are inflamed with COVID-19.
Uzbekistan Dozens of others complain that hospitals are forcing them to sign documents that say they have spent up to 35 million soms (about $3400) on remedies, even for negative coronavirus tests. According to one account, hospital workers threatened to cut off the body of an elderly woman who died of COVID-19 if her relatives did not tell her that her remedy had collected such an amount. The lawsuits fuel suspicions of a pandemic funds embezzlement program: several doctors have already been arrested for taking cash from hospital purchases since the beginning of the epidemic.
Uzbekistan Nearly a thousand Uzbek immigrants are stranded on the Russian-Kazakh border, outdoors with sweltering temperatures.
Kyrgyzstan: Police are investigating morgue workers for allegedly extorting the victims’ families in cash to recover the bodies without an autopsy.
Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar and Saudi Arabia In an interpol-coordinated operation, the government confiscated thousands of $14 million worth of medical masks and counterfeit medicines.
Kuwait The government is a recent proposal for new quotas that would lead to one part of its two largest expatriate communities, 920,000 Indians and 520,000 Egyptians.
Pakistan An army intelligence surveillance formula for fighting terrorism has become a tactile search platform, raising consideration among human rights teams that the pandemic is being used as a pretext to monitor citizens.
Egypt At least fourteen prisoners and detainees were likely killed by COVID-19. Human rights teams and the UN have continually asked the government for situations for prisoners.
Egypt The government reacted to the rise in popularity of the TikTok social networking site by arresting two young influencers from TikTok.
Israel At least 34 other people were arrested at a demonstration opposing an upcoming vote to give the government the strength to evade Parliament in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
Israel and Palestine A dramatic deterioration in coordination between Israeli and Palestinian officials is hampering efforts to involve the coronavirus, as Israel threatens to annex giant portions of the occupied West Bank and Israeli forces demolished a quarantine center in Hebron, sparking outrage.
Iraq At least two other people were killed and many others injured when police opened fire on protesters in Baghdad, where the pandemic and heatwave caused the fundamental services to collapse.
Africa
Nigerian hounds are increasingly harassed and threatened through government security agents, with at least five Nigerian hounds harassed, arrested and imprisoned for reporting on COVID-19’s imprisonment.
Nigerian police were attacked and fired while enforcing COVID-19 restrictions by arresting 150 other people and taking 10 buses for violating interstate restrictions.
The Gambian journalist Ebou Ndye Keita was arrested for about six hours after photographing the police arresting others protesting against the country’s restrictions opposing COVID-19.
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested for state security on July 20. He had recently published a report revealing a recruitment fraud with COVID-19 within the Ministry of Health that led to the dismissal of the Minister of Health. The arrest is said to be part of a government crackdown on dissent ahead of major anti-corruption protests planned for the end of the month.
Migration to West and Central Africa has been reduced by almost 50% in the region due to COVID-19 restrictions that have left 21,000 migrants stranded and 1,500 quarantined.
Argentina at least 12 other people have been killed or “disappeared” through security forces since the imposition of the closure of COVID-19 in the country, according to human rights groups.
The United States Two Chinese hackers have been accused of vulnerabilities in the computer networks of U.S. corporations concerned about the progression of COVID-19 vaccines, evidence generation and treatments.
The United States With the expiration of coronavirus protections, about 30 million more people could be at risk of deportation in the coming months unless lawmakers take action.
The Republican governor of Georgia sued Atlanta officials to block a court order that would require citizens to wear a mask in public. More than one part of the U.S. states have ordered the use of masks in high-end public places, but some officials resist law enforcement.
United States The government has established regulations on the remedy of immigrant youth. Children as young as a child are detained, infrequently for weeks, in hotels before being deported. The policies ended the country’s asylum formula well with the pandemic.
To U.S. hospitals. They have been told to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all patient data to a central database in Washington, raising questions about transparency. President Trump has sent the National Guard to facilities that they don’t comply with.
USA The head of the World Health Organization called the allegations “false and unacceptable” through U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who allegedly said the fitness officer had reached an agreement with China that had influenced the institution’s decisions. The reaction comes after months of complaints from the Trump administration’s UN fitness firm.
Bolivian police recovered more than 400 bodies discovered in the streets, cars and houses of some of the country’s largest cities in five days, and 85% of the sick are believed to have died of coronavirus.
Colombia’s human rights teams have called on the government to do more for the cartel civilians who kill those who fail to block COVID-19 after the killing of at least 8 people.
Medical staff in Colombia have called for a general blockade of infections, as the accumulation of coronavirus infections has forced the government to impose new restrictions in several cities.
Mexico The new figures reflect the increase in violence against women against the pandemic, while the government implements austerity measures.
Brazil An organization of civil society organizations filed a complaint against the government with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for violating access to data and transparency of the pandemic.
The United States-Mexico More than 20,000 asylum seekers are stranded in Mexico awaiting their U.S. immigration hearings, which have been postponed due to closures.
The United States-Mexico and the United States-Canada 40,000 asylum seekers were “deported” with due procedure on the U.S.-Mexico border due to a public aptitude rule implemented in mid-March.
The New York Bar Association has Trump’s management to restore humanitarian and due-procedure protections for asylum seekers at the borders.
El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala All border closures have locked up other people fleeing violence in countries with some of the pre-existing rates of urban violence and gangs in the world.
Latin America During the pandemic, gender-based violence increased exponentially, in some countries it expanded to more than 60%.
The EU The European Union is interested in acquiring potential vaccines opposed to COVID-19 as a component of a co-directed initiative through the World Health Organization, as it considers it to be slow and costly.
Italy and Bangladesh The owner of a hospital and member of Bangladesh’s ruling party has been accused of issuing thousands of false negative effects on the COVID-19 check in exchange for money. Some of the buyers then returned to Europe with the fraudulent certificates, so that they would be positive for the virus upon arriving in Rome. Bangladeshi people living in Rome denounced the stigma.
United Kingdom The severe effect of COVID-19 on other people on minority ethnic teams has been linked to overcrowded and poor air pollutants and households.
The UK nearly three-quarters of moms in the UK had to reduce their operating hours due to the pandemic due to a lack of child care.
In the height of the pandemic, the government stripped young people of various legal rights and protections, a charity found it.
Greece The analyses have shown that media perceived as means of “opposition” obtain disproportionately lower levels of government advertising gain than more pro-government media, despite the fact that many have a higher flow and audience.
Turkey After President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 1 July declared that social media platforms “should be absolutely closed and controlled,” a bill drafted by the ruling Justice and Development Party proposing primary restrictions on social media was introduced to Parliament.
Africa and Asia Poaching in Africa and Asia is reportedly on the rise as patrol boats and other surveillance devices cannot navigate the pandemic.
China/Ecuador Hundreds of Chinese fishing boats have been discovered near the Galapagos Islands.
China According to new data, Chinese provinces have approved more coal capacity this year than in all of 2018 and 2019 combined.
Poland and EU Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki eased the weather for EU budget talks in Brussels. Morawiecki gained access to the EU budget to bail the economy without signing the climate neutrality target and after his government announced a rescue operation for Poland’s weakened coal industry.
Nigeria Oil production is at risk as the number of coronavirus cases among staff on offshore oil boxes and platforms increases. Shell was forced to evacuate staff from Bonga’s offshore oil box due to an outbreak.
Kenya The amount of medical waste filling landfills puts thousands working in the field of casual waste collection at risk.
Japan’s coasts and waters have recently noticed an obvious increase in the number of disposable masks, according to environmental activists.
Seychelles With its marine sanctuary financed largely through tourism, many guides found themselves without a source of income and engaged in fishing.
U.S. President Trump has weakened the National Environmental Policy Act to accelerate highway, plant, and pipeline approvals.
Good news
British climate activists have presented a legal challenge to sue her for her COVID-19 bailout, urging her to assume a duty to address climate change.
Democracy is in crisis and unexplained cash flows are helping to destroy it. Peter Geoghegan’s new book, “Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics,” shows how secrecy, lobbying and knowledge have distorted our democracy.
How did Black purchase our policy? What can be done to replace the system?
Join us on an adventure in a dark world of black cash and misinformation stretching from Westminster to Washington and beyond.
Sign up for a loose discussion on Thursday, August 13 at 5 p.m. UK time / 6 p.m. CET
In conversation:
Peter Geoghegan Editor-in-Chief of Dark Money Investigations at openDemocracy and “Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics”.
Mary Fitzgerald Editor-in-Chief of openDemocracy.
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