From Syria to Turkey to the EU - An Interconnected Crisis: Daily Brief
From Syria to Turkey to the EU - an interconnected crisis. Plus: Sweden should hold Beijing accountable for its abuses; Myanmar jails activists for peaceful protest; consumer protection in danger at the US Supreme Court; and the missing ISIS victims.
Amid reports that children are freezing to death on the Turkish border, the UN says humanitarian assistance needs to be immediately increased to civilians trying to flee Russian and Syrian government bombing around Idlib.
Refugees already in Turkey are now being encouraged by the government there to try to move on towards Greece in the EU, but Greek border guards are tear-gassing them at the land border, and at sea, the Greek coast guard is acting inhumanely and aggressively.
The leaders of three key European Union institutions will visit the Greece-Turkey land border today, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Human Rights Watch is calling on them to use this visit to pledge their support for emergency humanitarian aid at the border, for sharing responsibility among EU member states for people in need, and for respecting their rights.
With the Chinese authorities sentencing Swedish publisher Gui Minhai to 10 years in prison, many are asking why Sweden has not been using its leverage in the case.
The Myanmar authorities should immediately release four activists who have been sentenced to one month in prison for peaceful protest.
The Supreme Court in the US is deciding today the fate of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), a decision that could potentially threaten all independent agencies that provide critical rights protections.
Friends and relatives of the victims are still demanding to know: what happened to the people abducted by ISIS?