In June 2024 the former MCC Cambodia & Myanmar Peace Coordinator, Audrey Thill, published an article in Foreign Policy on How Myanmar’s Wood Funds Its Brutal Military. It’s a fantastic article pulling back the curtain on the illicit economy driving conflict and deforestation. The article is on Myanmar but also looks at similar issues in South Sudan and Cambodia. I’d encourage that you read it.

However, I wanted to focus in on the first line in her article which caught my attention.

Myanmar is the most violent place in the world, ranking just above Syria and Palestine, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. 

FP How Myanmar’s Wood Funds Its Brutal Military

The world’s attention quickly moved on from Myanmar after the February 2021 coup d’état. First to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, then to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and now to the terrible violence in Gaza. There are also so many other conflicts that rarely stay long in the news’ limelight such as the terrible civil war raging in Sudan, the street violence in Haiti, the lethal crackdown on protests in Kenya, the cartel violence in Mexico, the attacks on student protesters in Bangladesh that lead to revolution, and so many others. Though our exchange programs we hear personal stories from people who have connections to these countries. We’ve heard from Prantosh, who recently returned to Bangladesh after finishing a year of service in Cambodia, and from Victor, a Kenyan has been working in the MCC Cambodia office for a year and a half now. Monika, who spent 11 months in Ukraine, told us about what her host family was experiencing and Carolina, who just visited from MCC Colombia, told us about the struggles there.

All of these conflicts demand attention – it’s certainly not a contest – but the statistic in Audrey’s article was a stark reminder to me of just how serious the conflicts in Myanmar are. Myanmar is home to the world’s longest ongoing civil war and the civil war has never been between two clearly defined sides. The largest force there is the Tatmadaw military junta and there is an opposition organized against it after the coup. There are also a myriad of Ethic Armed Organizations, local Warlords, local militias, and armed bandits holding various, complex, and shifting affiliations within Myanmar. The military junta is not immune to this, their soldiers are just as likely to engage in armed robbery against their own communities.

In July 2024 the armed conflict index was updated. Palestine, already facing some of the greatest violence in the world, is now suffering violence categories greater than it had been last year. Palestine now faces the most deadly, most dangerous for civilians, and most diffused conflict in the world.

Please pray for peace. In Palestine. In Myanmar. Around the world. As Crystal wrote, give the Lord no rest.

God of life and love and peace,
We witness the violence and injustice in your Holy Land
And our hearts break.

Our hearts break for the people of Israel—
For the victims of violent attacks by Hamas
For those who live with fear and insecurity
For those who suffer from the inter-generational trauma of violence.

Our hearts break for Palestinians—
For the victims of violent attacks by the Israeli military
For those being denied water, electricity and medical care
For those who are refugees, long displaced from their homes.

We especially pray—
That weapons of war be laid down
That walls of separation be dismantled
That prisoners be released
That demonizing of “the other” cease
That political leaders seek the good of all people in Palestine and Israel.

O God, whose heart breaks for the world,
May your justice dwell in the land
May your righteousness abide in fruitful fields
May the effect of righteousness be quietness and trust forever
May the effect of justice be peace—enduring peace.

Amen

And please consider supporting MCC’s Gaza Crisis response.