Economic rights at risk amid pandemic; Covid-19's economic effects in the UK; good and bad news from the US; latest in China's campaign against the Uyghurs; and Syrian security forces beat and arrest peaceful protesters.

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The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have long lasting economic and social impacts and disproportionally harm those who were already economically or socially vulnerable before the crisis. Our new Q&A explores the ways that governments have reacted to the pandemic and provides recommendations for government action, which should stop, prevent, and mitigate the human rights impacts and risks posed by the pandemic.

This is already noticeable in some countries, such as the UK. Human Rights Watch’s recent research and work by others has highlighted the sharp increase in children going without food during the Covid-19 school closures. 

Good news from the US, where the Mississippi state legislature has voted to remove the Confederate symbol from the state flag - the only remaining US state that still has it. 

The US commits the same abuses it condemns abroad...

As part of China's campaign to curb its Muslim population in the western region of Xinjiang, the government is forcing birth control on Uyghurs and other minorities, a new AP investigation reveals.

On June 15, Syrians in the city of Sweida organized a demonstration against the government’s failure to address the country’s economic meltdown. The Syrian security forces responded to the protest by beating and arresting protesters.

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