"Unspeakable Cruelty" Against Children: Daily Brief
Authorities in the US are taking thousands of children from their parents; HRW's solution for failing migration policies in the European Union; Push to protect rights in the diamond trade; Thailand junta leader visits France & UK; Climate change and Kiribati's disappearing islands; and news from the struggle for justice for war crimes in Syria and Spain.
The horror of the Trump administration's ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy has become very visible over the weekend, with reports of thousands of children that have been taken away from their parents by the authorities. HRW's Mike Bochenek is on the ground researching this developing story - follow him for updates from the US-Mexico border.
What can we do to end this horrible policy? A start would be a deluge of calls to United States Senators. Find their contact details here.
Failing policies on migration and asylum are also a problem in the European Union, where governments and institutions need to urgently develop an effective and rights-based policy towards people who are fleeing war, conflict and poverty. HRW published a briefing paper today with recommendations to leaders of EU member states, who are meeting in Brussels on June 28-29.
Villagers in Zimbabwe recently faced a violent crackdown by police and soldiers. Why? They were protesting because they believe that state-run companies have looted billions of dollars in revenue from local diamond mines with no benefit to their community. Will the European Union do something about these abuses during a summit this week in Antwerp, Belgium?
As Thailand's junta leader Prayut Chan-ocha is visiting the United Kingdom and France this week, here's what UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron should do when they meet the autocrat.
Read this interview by HRW's Amy Braunschweiger, on climate change and the disappearing islands of Kiribati.
And the wheels of justice my grind slowly sometimes, but there is hope for prosecutions against perpetrators of the gravest crimes in countries such as Syria and Spain...