Lesser Reported Conflicts

Dick phelan

A thread designed to discuss and provide updates on less reported conflicts and crisis.

Yesterday in Haiti some 4000 prisoners escaped after gangs attacked two prisons. This comes on the back of Haiti signing a deal with Kenya to send police to the country. The gangs now control some 80% of Port Au Prince.

In Myanmar the military junta has been on the back foot in recent weeks and no longer control many key border areas. The junta has announced conscription for both men and women which has led to massive ques at the Thai embassy with people desperate to avoid conscription. India has also announced plans to fence part of it's border with Myamar after some missiles strayed into Indian territory.

silliussoddius

Aren't they still fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Dick phelan

They are indeed. Just saw a report today of 15 people killed in the East of the country by the Rwanda backed M23 rebel group.

Odhinn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058338980/lesser-reported-conflicts

Also the struggle in West Papua

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_conflict

and western sahara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara_conflict

Kashmir

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_conflict

Montage of Feck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850719#Comment_121850719

When are they not fighting there.

volchitsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058338980/lesser-reported-conflicts

Haiti seems like such a nightmare I can't see how it can ever be brought back to a functioning society. The wealthy (presumably mostly making their money from corruption) send their children to schools in the US, which is understandable in the security context, but means they have little or no connection with ordinary Haitians who don't have that option.

Brussels Sprout

Nice idea OP.

Since the coup in Myanmar a few years ago growing rebel factions have taken over more and more of the country. A diverse group of minorities are all fighting against the army and now apparently control most of the countryside

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/t%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-t%C3%AAte/20240228-almost-60-of-the-territory-are-under-the-control-of-the-federal-democratic-forces-myanmar-s-opposition-foreign-minister

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121852098#Comment_121852098

Yes. There are several countries in the world right now that are basically failed states (Libya, Somalia) but Haiti seems to be the worst of them. it's hard to see it being brought to order without outside intervention. Kenya are apparently going to deploy 1000 police there but that seems woefully insufficient.

I think as Climate change continues to worsen we will see more countries spin into chaos and anarchy. The military juntas spreading across the Sahel in the last few years have the same root cause.

gym_imposter

Yemen is surely the standout example?

A country who's people are pawns between competing powers in the middle east

Truly horrendous conflict

mikethecop

Haiti really is a example of the inmates taking over the asylum

from slave state to dictatorship to corrupt government one after another . 32 coups plus one ongoing , rampant crime and drug gangs and dependent almost entirely on foreign aid .

HalloweenJack

The literal price Haiti paid for independence was a sum (150 million francs in 1826) that they had to borrow from Western banks at high interest rates. It wasn't fully paid off until 1947. At one point, 80% of government spending was repaying that loan.

This was a country that came into existence because of a slave rebellion in the early 19th century. Plenty of imperial powers at the time had no interest in Haiti succeeding and they did a good job at making sure of it.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121852405#Comment_121852405

Yemen is similar in a way to Libya and Sudan whereby there are essentially competing armies that are recognised and supported by different countries. It's also calmed down quite a bit since the Saudi/UAE coalition came to realise that they couldn't dislodge the Houthis by carpet bombing them into submission.

What sets Haiti apart is it just seems to be a collection of disparate criminal gangs (at least 9) vying for power with no external countries supporting any of them. It's just chaos right now. One indicator of how bad it is is that, in the last few days, there was a mass jail break from the biggest jail in Port-au-Prince - over a hundred prisoners decided to stay in the jail as they deemed it safer there than on the outside.

If I had to choose between getting dropped into the middle of Sana'a or Port-au-Prince right now I would take Sana'a without hesitation.

riffmongous

I have a bad feeling about what will happen in Myanmar once the Junta is overthrown..

I mean it's hard to say it will be any worse than what's happened there already the last years, but it certainly won't be any better

riffmongous

Sudan/Darfur is another conflict that has picked up in intensity recently

Hande hoche!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121854824#Comment_121854824

That's a reasonably cautious approach. The Junta are not pleasant but it might end up with a Yugoslavia style split.

No shortage of potential backers if there were successor states.

Montage of Feck

I'm really beginning to think that foreign aid from the UN and various aid agencies is doing more harm than good in the long run. It just seems that it becomes a breeding ground for corruption and miss management.

Dick phelan

Depends on the country. Countries can be poor but reasonably stable in which case it could do some good. In a place like Haiti though, it's hard to see how it would ever get to the people in need when the place is controlled by gangs. A friend of mine worked with an NGO in Haiti after the earthquake. He said he felt very little if anything was achieved. In fact he told me that allegedly the aid agencies were paying protection to gangs to not attack aid facilities.

silliussoddius

Yeah, sometimes overseas aid seems like pissing into a hurricane.

One thing that stuck with me is a report from Sri Lanka after the tsunami in 2004: a delivery of fresh drinking water to a hard hit region was being used to clean the floor of the local police station.

rob w

The world is full of conflict...is there not already enough bad news out there to go around?

Dick phelan

https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/03/12/aseans-solution-to-myanmar-is-at-a-tipping-point/

Seems like Thailand has changed it's tune on Myanmar.

foxsake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121857864#Comment_121857864

I see your point but I think its important to know whats going on

not just what on the front paper . cos that news is what somebody else deems important .

hoodie6029

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121891118#Comment_121891118

Too many wars going on that don’t involve the US directly or by proxy so they get scant coverage in the western media.

Gerrymandering reborn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121850807#Comment_121850807

In regards to Kashmir - a lot of the Islamist terrorists were hiding behind article 370. After the Indian Government revoked article 370, there has been a lot of peace and progress in happening in Kashmir. A lot of investment is coming in as well as a result of this

Shelga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121891118#Comment_121891118

I agree, I think this is a good time for this thread. What’s going on in Gaza is utterly horrifying but there are so, so many other huge conflicts going on in the world that you never, ever hear about on the news. I’ve already learned lots from about 20 posts here.

randd1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121853319#Comment_121853319

That explains a lot of the past, but it doesn't explain a lot of the more recent past. Other countries have had crippling debt, but still advanced.

It just seem to be a country that's doomed to the street gangster type of leaders that neither care for human life and who want to rape the resources before they're overthrown. Crazy gangsters run that country, always have, and you fear always will.

The same problems they face today will be the same problems they face in 100 years. It's a failed state run by gangster law in charge of an utterly destroyed and accepting-their-fate people.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893025#Comment_121893025

The fact a lot of gangs are former corrupt police units now all competing against other corrupt units for power is insane.

Law and Order my ârse, its generational corruption and greed cycles just repeating.

riffmongous

Grim reading from Sudan

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68606201

Dick phelan

The Russians with their claws in that conflict too. They've caused so much unrest in Africa in recent years.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121853684#Comment_121853684

Looks like some moron tried to visit Port-au-Prince:

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1773724805423890881

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121953594#Comment_121953594

Reminds me of the genius who decided to bring God to one of the last uncontacted tribes on some island in the Indian Ocean…………I don't think he made it to the shore. They had to send some special forces types in to retrieve the body later.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/22/john-allen-chau-man-killed-by-tribe-north-sentinel-island-declare-jesus