Civilians Flee Turkey's Syria Offensive: Daily Brief
Aid workers warn that "hundreds of thousands of lives" are at risk from Turkey's push into Syria; on World Mental Health Day, Belgium show how rights-respecting healthcare is possible; fears Egyptian activist is being tortured; Qatar should investigate deaths of its otherwise-healthy migrant workers; lethal force used against protestors in Iraq; why FIFA is key in Iran's stadium ban row; and will Greta Thunberg will the Nobel Prize?...
Turkey has began a military offensive in northern Syria by attacking territory held by Kurdish-led forces - which had, until now, been key allies of the US in the region, especially in the fight against ISIS (Islamic State). The move has sparked fears for civilians in the border area, for the plight of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and for the fate of thousands of ISIS fighters currently held by Kurdish forces, who may now be unable to properly guard the prisoners.
Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay2019, and to mark the day here's some welcome good news: a new mobile team in Belgium has shown it's possible to support people with mental health conditions without resorting to medication, hospitalization or force. TANDEMplus, which helps around 400 people a year in Brussels, is a model of rights-respecting healthcare and a model for good practice in the industry.
There are fresh fears for the safety of a prominent Egyptian dissident who was recently re-arrested just six months after his release from a 5-year prison term. Alaa Abdel Fattah was a leading campaigner during the 2011 uprising against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Qatar should urgently investigate the underlying causes of migrant worker deaths in light of new medical research which concludes that heatstroke is a likely cause of cardiovascular fatalities among construction workers in the country.
Iraq's security forces have used excessive and unnecessary lethal force in confronting protesters, with at least 105 people killed in just 10 days, HRW said today. Security forces shot at protesters as they dispersed and even sprayed them with scalding water cannons.
FIFA should pressure Iran to let women attend football matches because its exclusion of its 41 million women from sports stadiums is a clear violation of FIFA's charter - and of human rights, too.
And finally, could the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg be about to win the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow? If she does scoop the prestigious prize, as rumours suggest, she will do so on the International Day Of The Girl - a particularly fitting tribute not only to Greta but to other child activists all over the world as well.