The Forgotten Wars of 2024 and 2025
March 13, 2026 · Frisian News
While Western media focused on Ukraine and Gaza, dozens of armed conflicts killed tens of thousands in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with almost no coverage. These wars shaped entire regions but vanished from headlines as soon as funding dried up or attention moved elsewhere.
In Myanmar, the military junta's offensive against ethnic armies killed large numbers of civilians between 2023 and 2025. Entire towns burned. Hundreds of thousands fled across borders. Western governments issued statements and did nothing. The conflict barely appeared in English-language news after the first few months, even as it became a severe humanitarian crisis. Few donors rushed in. Few emergency summits happened. The killing ground on.
In eastern Congo, fighting between M23 rebels and government forces displaced vast numbers of people over the same period. Rape, starvation, and massacres became routine tools of war. Hospitals collapsed. Aid groups ran out of medicine. Yet coverage outside Africa was sporadic and shallow. The conflict competed with stories about celebrities and scandals for space in news cycles. When journalists finally arrived, they filed reports that vanished within hours.
The Sudan conflict killed enormous numbers of people in 2024 and 2025. Armies, paramilitaries, and local militias turned cities into killing grounds. Hunger became a weapon. Children died by the thousands. International institutions debated endlessly while aid organizations reported numbers so large they ceased to shock. The world moved on before the year ended.
Venezuela's silent exodus continued as large numbers of citizens fled hunger and political collapse. Colombia and Peru absorbed them with little help from rich nations. Brazil took in masses of Venezuelan refugees while wealthy countries lectured about immigration from safety. These people's desperation never made headlines in New York or Brussels because their suffering served no geopolitical interest.
The pattern is clear: wars matter only when they touch Western interests or fit convenient narratives. When conflicts serve no strategic purpose and the victims belong to poor nations without oil or minerals, institutions and media simply pretend they don't exist. The dead keep dying in the dark.
Published March 13, 2026 · Frisian News