When we ask Jonas Gahr Støre about which conflicts he is worried about in 2024, the answer is the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. He calls these conflicts particularly worrying because large countries are involved and the danger that they could get out of control is great: – It requires us to pay special attention to them, says Støre. But it is not only here that war and conflict rage. Here are five of the most important forgotten crises from 2023. Rape is used as a weapon of war in Sudan. Haiti is ravaged by gang violence. In Syria, the president refuses to step down. An eight-year civil war has sent Yemen into a humanitarian crisis. Rape as a weapon of war – How are you? – Now I feel completely lost. I am no longer afraid of dying. That’s what 24-year-old Zainab says to news. She was studying medicine at a university in Khartoum when the war broke out in April. – What I fear now are the rapes. We hear about it all the time. Zainab feels completely powerless when she thinks about the war. She has fled from battles near her several times. Photo: private Before the war, her dream was to have a kind husband and children who look like herself, and to complete medical training, she says. But on April 15 this year, life changed for absolutely all Sudanese. Men fighting men Due to disagreements about, among other things, the distribution of power, the paramilitary force RSF attacked the government army. The two military forces have ruled the country together since they seized power in 2021. Soldiers from the government army (SAF) in the city of Port Sudan in April. Photo: AFP Soon after the fighting broke out in April, there were reports of extensive looting and rapes in Khartoum, a city that is now characterized as completely destroyed. According to the UN, it is especially the RSF soldiers who have used rape and looting in their warfare, although it is reported from both sides. – I hear about it all the time. Now my dream is to be at a safe distance from the RSF soldiers. It is, says Zainab. The warfare is extremely brutal, and has forced 6.7 million Sudanese to flee their homes. The hardest battles have been in Khartoum and Darfur. Although the conflict is about winning territory, it also has ethnic dimensions. In October, RSF soldiers carried out a massacre of the Masalit people in a refugee camp in West Darfur. According to Al Jazeera, at least 1,300 must have been killed. Several who got away reported sexual violence against the women and brutal murders of the men. Over a million have fled Sudan. Half have traveled to neighboring Chad, where several refugee camps have been set up. Photo: EL TAYEB SIDDIG / Reuters In December, RSF soldiers entered Wad Madani. The city was called a safe haven for those who had fled the fighting. Here, RSF soldiers are said to have “terrorized the inhabitants” and looted houses. In less than two days, 300,000 must have fled the area. Zainab was one of those who had fled to Wad Madani. She tells about the day they arrived: – We woke up to the bombs. Me and three friends found a bus. We didn’t know where we were going, we just knew we had to leave. The most important thing was not to make eye contact with the soldiers. After ten days she is still up in the town of Dongola, but here she is completely alone. She wants to go to Egypt, but says that a visa costs 3,000 dollars, money she doesn’t have. Peace talks have not led, and all ceasefires between the parties have been broken. It does not look like the conflict will be resolved anytime soon. Read more about the conflict here. Haiti – Ravaged by gang violence The tiny country in the Caribbean Sea has been ravaged by gang crime in the last two years. The murder of the then president Jovenel Moïse triggered a major political unrest in the country in 2021. The gangs gained more control, which the country’s meager police force of 10,000 people was unable to stop. In September this year, the country’s prime minister asked for international help to overcome the rival gangs. Leader of the “G9 Family and Allies” Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier will be the most powerful gang leader in Haiti. Photo: Odelyn Joseph / AP 3,000 people are said to have been killed from January to September this year, 1,500 are said to have been kidnapped, and several hundred thousand have had to flee, according to a report from the UN. Here too, rape is widespread. UN Secretary-General António Guterres says that the gangs carry out the rapes to “terrorize the population”. Children as young as ten are said to have been raped and killed in front of their own parents by gang criminals. Many have been forced to flee Haiti. Between January and May, 15,000 are said to have crossed the border from Colombia to Panama via the risky Darién Gap route. Photo: Junior KANNAH / AP Various gangs today control around 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, which houses at least 1.5 million people. Rose-Marie Clervil is one of those who has had to leave her home because of gang violence in the neighbourhood. Now she and her family live in a refugee camp in the capital: – Last year we had a home, today we live on the streets. We have no reason to celebrate Christmas this year. Read more about the situation in Haiti here Syria – The president who does not want to step down In 2011, the people of Syria revolted against the political oppression in the country. The uprising was, not surprisingly, severely cracked down on by the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad. A civil war broke out. On the other side stood a diverse group of rebels. Everything from Kurdish socialists (YPG) to radical Islamists (IS). Countries such as Turkey, the USA, Russia and Iran have been involved in the war on various sides. Bashar al-Assad stands firmly by Putin’s in the war in Ukraine, and has Putin’s full support in Syria. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik / AP Since 2011, the bloody war has forced more than half of the country’s population to flee and claimed 500,000 lives. The Assad government has been blamed several times for the use of torture and chemical weapons in the long conflict. Last November, charges were brought against the Syrian regime for gross violations of the UN Torture Convention by Dutch authorities. But the president does not want to step down, and with the help of Russian airstrikes has managed to recapture two thirds of the country. Five people in the same family were killed in a Russian airstrike in Idlib on 26 December this year. Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP The earthquake that made it worse The already difficult situation in the country was worsened by the earthquake that struck both Syria and neighboring Turkey in February. The situation has become more difficult, especially in north-west Syria, where rebels are still in control. As a result of the earthquake, 300,000 people were forced to flee, and even more have become dependent on humanitarian aid. Yemen – Civil war and lack of aid In Yemen too, a civil war has been allowed to drag on for far too long. Eight years of war have led to the complete collapse of public institutions, such as healthcare and education. 8 out of 10 Yemenis are currently dependent on humanitarian aid. Donor support to Yemen has decreased in recent years. In December, the WFP stopped humanitarian aid to Houthi-controlled areas. Photo: Khaled Ziad / AFP The popular uprising during the Arab Spring in 2011 led to the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A transitional government was put in place, with Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi as president. But he was unpopular with the people, who again took to the streets. The Iran-backed Houthi militia exploited the people’s discontent. They marched on the capital and sent the president into exile. The rebellion led to a civil war. The Houthis fought against the internationally recognized Hadi government, which has had strong support from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian coalition carried out over 25,000 airstrikes in Yemen over eight years. Over 150,000 have been killed. The slogan of the Houthis written on a flag: “God is great.” Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse of the Jews. Says to Islam.” Photo: Mohamed al-Sayaghi / Reuters Attacks have decreased after a ceasefire came into place last year, but the situation has not improved for the civilians. The Houthis currently control the capital and the surrounding area. Two thirds of the population are subject to their rule. The regime is called oppressive, brutal and not economically competent. In the areas not under the control of the Houthis or the former Hadi government, several Islamist militias are fighting for territory. Donor support is declining Today, the country tops the UN’s list of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises. In August, the World Food Program (WFP) announced that they had only received 20 percent of the donor support they needed to provide sufficient humanitarian support for the rest of the year. Richard Ragen, WFP’s country director for Yemen, describes tough priorities: – We have to take food from those who are hungry, and give it to those who starve. Millions of Yemenis depend on us for survival. At the beginning of December, the WFP announced that they must cut all aid going into Houthi-controlled areas, due to disagreements with the Houthis and the decline in support. Read more about Yemen here. DR Congo – When wealth leads to conflict In 1960, the Democratic Republic of the Congo gained independence from Belgium, and a colonial era characterized by terror was finally to be over. But it didn’t turn out that way. Although DR Congo has the world’s lowest gross domestic product, the country is one of the richest countries in terms of natural resources such as gold, diamonds, zinc and lead. But the wealth has become the root of the conflict in the country. Armed groups control several of the areas with the country’s most important mineral: Cobalt. Children sort cobalt at a mine in the Congo. Photo: Amnesty Cobalt is used in rechargeable batteries, and has been fundamental for the so-called electric car revolution and the green shift in the West. But a report from Amnesty International shows serious human rights violations linked to cobalt and copper mining in the country. Children as young as seven work to extract minerals. Around 20,000 people work at the Shabara mine in Kolwezi, in shifts of 5,000 at a time. Photo: JUNIOR KANNAH / AFP Mining companies in search of wealth are said to have razed entire communities, forcing thousands of people to flee. One of those who fled their home is 57-year-old Kanini Maska. She told Amnesty that soldiers came to her village and ordered people to leave the area in the blink of an eye. – I asked them: Where are we going? We have raised our children here. We have grown food here. This is where our children go to school. They just had to leave, and were told that they were not allowed to come back. – We had nothing to survive on, and had to spend the night in the forest, says Maska. Read more about DR Congo here.
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The forgotten crises in 2023 – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
