Friday, 28 February 2025
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** The existential threat to international aid and consular assistance
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Hello, readers. It would have been difficult to miss the recent flurry of news regarding cuts to international aid organisations, and the repercussions these will have in areas such as climate change mitigation, tackling gender-based violence, and supporting independent journalism in countries with severe free speech violations.

Donald Trump’s cuts to USAID (the US Agency for International Development) will decimate such assistance, with more than 90% ([link removed]) of the agency’s foreign aid contracts due to be eliminated. As the world’s largest supporter of independent foreign media until now, Trump’s decision is perilous at a time when democracy and impartial reporting are being eroded globally.

This week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer also announced that the UK’s international aid budget would be slashed to better fund defence, a move that mirrors the USA’s insular approach and appears to be driven by the increasing threat of estrangement from the country. While charities and backbenchers have expressed serious concerns, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner ([link removed]) has said that although the decision to cut aid is “devastating”, the Cabinet is “united that the number one responsibility of any government is to keep its citizens safe”. Not entirely united, it would seem – this morning, the International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds resigned ([link removed]) over it.

But declarations of citizen safety are questionable, given the government does not currently appear to be keeping its citizens very safe abroad. This week, 43-year-old British-Egyptian political prisoner and pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah ([link removed]) was in the news again, as his UK-based mother Laila Soueif has been hospitalised by a hunger strike she began nearly five months ago. Doctors have warned that her life is at risk, but she is refusing glucose treatment until Starmer calls Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to secure her son’s release.

The Labour government’s approach to the situation has so far been tepid. While Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Egypt in January to discuss trade deals, economic growth and illegal migration, he was ultimately not able to reach a resolution on Abd el-Fattah’s case. Starmer has publicly committed ([link removed]) to do all he can to secure his release, and has written to the Egyptian president twice but reportedly has been unable to have a phone call ([link removed]) with him about it. Abd el-Fattah’s sister, Sanaa Seif, said in a statement ([link removed]) this week: “Keir Starmer has to make this call today. Every moment that he waits means that my mother is more likely to die.”

The thread tying both international aid cuts and lack of consular assistance together is one of isolationism. According to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, ([link removed]) the UK’s aid projects countering threats to democracy, journalism and human rights totalled £1.37bn between 2015 and 2021, but since then budget cuts and an increased fear of damaging relations with other governments have impeded this work. Recent developments do not spell good news for those subjected to human rights violations globally, and as Abd el-Fattah’s case indicates, British citizens are not exempt from this risk. We now need to see strong actions from the UK government that it is willing to speak out against such violations and do its utmost to support democratic principles.

Sarah Dawood

Editor, Index on Censorship


** More from Index
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Jimmy Lai, the troublemaker ([link removed])

A new biography details the life of Hong Kong’s most outspoken political prisoner ([link removed])

One year on from his death, Alexei Navalny’s legacy is still alive in Russia ([link removed])

Brave Russians continue to speak out against Putin’s regime ([link removed])


** Australia is turning up the heat on environmental activists ([link removed])
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Climate protesters in Australia face a higher risk of arrest than those in any other country ([link removed])


** A conversation with human rights defenders from Belarus & Russia ([link removed])
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Join Index, Human Rights House and IBAHRI at Parliament next week ([link removed])

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** Save the date: launch of Index's annual press freedom report
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On Wednesday 5 March 2025, Index on Censorship, alongside partners at the Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, will launch its annual report: Europe Press Freedom Report 2024: Confronting Political Pressure, Disinformation, and the Erosion of Media Independence.

LEARN MORE ([link removed])


** From elsewhere
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** >> THAILAND: ([link removed]) Dozens of Uyghurs face peril after forced return to China ([link removed])
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** >> USA: ([link removed]) White House seizes control of press pool ([link removed]) [link removed]
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** >> VIETNAM: ([link removed]) Journalist Huy Duc charged with “infringing state interests” ([link removed])
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** >> UK: ([link removed]) Green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince settles High Court case ([link removed])
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** Flashback
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My three years of hell in an Uyghur ‘re-education’ camp ([link removed])

by Gulbahar Haitiwaji and Rahima Mahmut ([link removed])

Index on Censorship, volume 51, issue 2 ([link removed])

“Here, the military rules were designed to break us. Sheer physical fatigue robbed us of the desire to speak.”

Gulbahar Haitiwaji is one of just a few who have dared to speak out about China’s attempts to break and brainwash her and millions of her fellow Uyghurs. In 2022, we shared an extract of her survivor’s story, with an introduction by Rahima Mahmut. Read the article here. ([link removed])


** Support our work
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The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work supporting individuals like Alaa Abd el-Fattah and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as Hong Kong, Belarus and Australia has never been more important.

By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture and worse.

Please donate today ([link removed])

Photos by: Alaa Abd El-Fatah/ CC BY-SA 2.5: Vit Simanek/CTK/Alamy

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