Why are autocrats popular? - Assault on democracy | DW Documentary A wave of authoritarianism is churning from East to West and assailing civil society. Autocrats are threatening democracy, while their regimes portray NGOs as Trojan horses for foreign interference.

The resurgence of authoritarianism is impacting countries across the globe, no matter what their form of government. "In the Crosshairs of the State" documents this worldwide phenomenon using the examples of India, Russia, and Poland and shows how civil society is being repressed, and what impact this can have on the future of democracy.

When populists and autocrats wield power, the first victims are civil liberties. However, regimes aren’t stopping at attacking and imprisoning activists - they go as far as criminalizing entire groups and freezing their funds. These governments are increasingly targeting NGOs and other players in civil society that demand democracy and assert human rights or protest about social grievances and environmental destruction. The methods of choice are defamation campaigns, repression, and criminalization.

In the past few years, certain countries have passed over 60 laws specifically aiming to systematically impede NGOs’ work or completely put an end to it. The root causes are wide-ranging, but it all boils down to rulers’ desire to remain in power and protect their economic interests. Beyond authoritarian wielders of power, democratic governments are increasingly clamping down on independent and critical players, too.

Are we experiencing a full-on global assault on civil society? What happens when the driving force of democracy - the people themselves - is silenced? How can we counter this development? Film director Sebastian Weis investigates these question, relating the situations in India, Russia, and Poland chapter by chapter, with each country representing an overarching issue. India faces environmental destruction, Russians are seeing human rights be eroded, and in Poland women’s rights are under attack.

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Belarus migrants blasted with water cannons by Polish border force MIGRANTS at the Belarus and Poland border were blasted by water cannons today as Polish security forces took action at barbed wire perimeters.

Polish security forces turned water cannon on migrants who threw rocks from across the Belarusian border, where thousands have gathered in chaotic attempts to cross into the European Union, video footage shared by authorities showed on Tuesday (November 16).

Video footage shared by Polish Border Guard showed the cannon spraying water onto the Belarusian side of the border, hitting migrants who have gathered there.

Other videos shared by the Polish authorities showed migrants throwing rocks and sticks at the Polish troops.

According to the Polish authorities, more than 20,000 Polish security service members from the police, border guard or army are reinforcing the border where migrants have gathered near a crossing at the Polish town of Kuznica.

The Interior Ministry said a policeman was seriously injured by an object thrown across the border and was in hospital with a suspected fractured skull.

An estimated 4,000 migrants are near the border and many say Belarusian authorities are not allowing them to return to Minsk.

Read more:
Inside the horror of Belarus’ twisted regime where migrants are beaten with guns, kicked in the ribs and electrocuted
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16720956/horror-belarus-twisted-regime-migrants-beaten/

Putin sends nuclear bombers over Belarus as ‘gangster’ dictator Lukashenko ‘weaponises’ migrant crisis in war with EU
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16691761/belarus-border-migrants-russia-nuclear-bombers/

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Belarus begins repatriation of hundreds of migrants | DW News Iraq began the voluntary repatriations of its citizens from Belarus on Thursday amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis near the border between Poland and Belarus. The Iraqi Ministry of Transport confirmed that the repatriated individuals arrived in the Kurdish city of Erbil. Iraq has appealed for Iraqi citizens to fly home, telling them the way into the European Union is closed. Some 431 people were on an Iraqi Airways flight from Minsk to Baghdad, Russian state-run Interfax reported.

Belarusian Authorities have said that some 7,000 migrants are in the country. President Alexander Lukashenko has proposed returning 5,000 migrants to their home countries and urged the EU to take 2,000 of the stranded migrants in a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer rejected an alleged Belarusian proposal to Merkel as "misinformation." Following talks with his Polish counterpart, Seehofer said that Germany "will not take in refugees."

The EU border agency Frontex is working with the Polish and Iraqi authorities on arranging charter flights from Poland. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Khadimi told him flights to Minsk from Iraq will remain suspended.The Belarusian border force said later on Thursday that it had cleared an encampment at the border where about 2,000 people had been staying. Most of the occupants were relocated "on a voluntary basis" to a reception center nearby, they added. Polish border forces also confirmed that the camp had been evacuated. Most of the stranded migrants are from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen. They're fleeing conflict or despair at home and want to reach Germany or other Western European nations for a better life. But with Poland blocking their entry and EU leaders attempting to cut routes of travel, they have been stuck at the border and are facing dire conditions, with limited food, water and medical supplies and plummeting temperatures at night.

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