DemocracyWatch: Pandemic strands thousands at borders as temperatures soar, 30 July 2020

New research from the International Rescue Committee shows that COVID-19 is preventing people from fleeing violence, making routes even more dangerous for those who do flee, and pushing people to return home to unstable situations.

Let’s pause for a moment to think of the thousand Uzbek migrants stranded at the Russian-Kazakh border as temperatures soar, or the 5,000 Congolese refugees stranded at the border with Uganda.

And it’s not just borders that are shut. As people under lockdown have turned to social media to vent their frustrations, governments across the world – including those of Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt and the US – have threatened major restrictions on free speech online...