Surge in Migrant Children Detained in Greece: Daily Brief

Surge in migrant children detained in Greece; Italy to patrol Libyan waters; Iran opposition figures denied health care; intersex kid surgery settlement; Philippines HIV epidemic; World Bank's goal in Uzbekistan; privacy of internet users at risk in Russia; Indian women 'misusing' cruelty law.

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The number of unaccompanied migrant children held in unsuitable police cells and detention centers in Greece has increased alarmingly. As of July 19, an estimated 117 children were in police custody awaiting transfer to a shelter, up from two in November 2016. The Greek government should take urgent action to find alternatives to this abusive practice.
Last week, the Italian government announced that Italian navy ships would be patrolling the Libyan coast along with Libyan vessels to intercept migrant boats. If confirmed, the deployment could endanger migrants, who risk abuses and arbitrary detentions in Libya.
Two former opposition presidential candidates in Iran, under house arrest since 2011, are being denied adequate care despite deteriorating health. Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard, an author and activist who is Mousavi’s wife, should be provided immediately with unrestricted access to adequate health care.
A legal settlement has awarded $440,000 to an intersex child who was operated on as an infant to make his body appear like a girl, but grew up to identify as a boy. The regulatory void that allows these irreversible, medically unnecessary, and traumatizing surgeries to happen is still not addressed, however, and doctors continue to operate on kids who are too young to participate in the decision.
Instead of suspending projects linked to child and forced labor in Uzbekistan, the World Bank has other plans. In an accidentally left voicemail, they revealed their ultimate goal: to protect the bank from external pressure and get new agriculture projects through their executive board “unscathed.”
Two new laws in Russia jeopardize the privacy and security of internet users and aim to further control Russians’ freedom of expression. The new legislation is part of Moscow’s widespread crackdown on online expression, in violation of human rights law and democratic safeguards.
A sharp rise in new HIV infections has pushed the Philippine authorities to declare the epidemic a "national emergency" and a top health priority. The government, however, continues to delay the roll out of proven low-tech and low-cost interventions, and has not addressed issues like official obstacles to condom access, safer sex and HIV prevention education, and stigma and discrimination.
According to the Indian Supreme Court, the law on cruelty against women is misused by women themselves. Therefore, the court created welfare committees which will scrutinize complaints made by women before the police takes them into account.

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