Dr. Antonio Graceffo, PhD, China MBA, is a China economist, the author of Beyond the Belt and Road: China's Global Expansion and The Wrestler's Dissertation. He is based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Extreme humanitarian crises in the world are affecting over 65 million people, yet most readers remain unaware. These crises have largely fallen off the front page, replaced by more commercially appealing narratives.
Date posted: 2025-04-19
The military has deliberately targeted schools, hospitals, and camps for internally displaced people (IDP), as well as Christian churches and even Buddhist temples. While the entire country suffers under the regime's brutality, Christians - particularly Catholics - have faced especially severe persecution. The fighting, which has engulfed the entire nation, has displaced at least 3.5 million people. Most of the displaced are ethnic minorities who have lost their homes and farms, forcing them to seek refuge in makeshift jungle camps with no external support. Even in hiding, they remain targets of government airstrikes.
Date posted: 2025-03-08
For decades the Myanmar military has been accused of using chemical weapons, with recent allegations from ethnic resistance groups like the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) describing toxic fumes that cause severe symptoms such as nausea, respiratory distress, and psychological trauma.
Date posted: 2025-02-08
An innocent villager dangles from a rope tied to a tree, his arms painfully bound behind his back, as a campfire crackles beneath him. The harrowing scene unfolds under the watchful gaze of two soldiers allied with Myanmar's junta, their expressions cold and unmoving. The man's desperate cries pierce the air: "It's too hot! Please help! Can anyone hear me?" This incident was captured in a video by civilians in the Shan ethnic community. Toward the end the man shouts "Please, let me go. I want to go back to my family."
Date posted: 2024-12-18
The economic crisis caused by Myanmar's civil war is a humanitarian catastrophe, fuelling hunger, desperation - and the sale of human organs.
Date posted: 2024-10-04
Among the internal challenges India faces, the caste system stands out as a significant impediment to progress. This traditional social hierarchy, which has existed for over 3,000 years, divides people into different groups based on birth.
Date posted: 2024-09-17
When considering the persecution of Christians, we often think of the Middle East, Africa, or communist regimes in Asia. However, there is a growing trend of persecution in Latin America, where Christians make up at least 90 percent of the population. Attacks on priests, the Catholic Church, and Christianity are increasing across left-leaning Latin American nations.
Date posted: 2024-07-13
Concerned about unrest both at home and abroad amidst multiple growing crises stemming from the Gaza conflict, King Abdullah II of Jordan warned that the Middle East "is on the brink of falling into the abyss."
Date posted: 2024-07-11
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) harbours a fear of China's smallest religious community, the Kaifeng Jews. Synagogues have been destroyed, community centres closed, and scriptures removed. Neither the religion nor the ethnicity is officially recognized. The CCP appears determined to erase the Jewish identity, including their thousand year history in China.
Date posted: 2024-06-22
The human rights situation in Venezuela has been dire for many years, with little indication of improvement. Since 2014, there have been 15,800 politically motivated arrests, and over 270 political prisoners continue to languish in Venezuelan jails.
Date posted: 2024-04-19
The old saying goes, "Truth is the first casualty in war." One could also argue that education and childhood are among the initial casualties of conflict. The war in Burma is in a constant state of flux, with intensifying fighting in some areas and diminishing activity in others, creating an ebb and flow that is constantly shifting.
Date posted: 2024-02-01
China is grappling with the unraveling of its control over the ethnic resistance armies it previously supported in Myanmar, compelling the Southeast Asian country's Beijing-backed junta to intervene and restore order.
Date posted: 2023-12-08
Poverty and discrimination afflict the ethnic and religious minorities of Russia, particularly in this time of war.
Date posted: 2023-02-07
The savage war in Ukraine is overshadowing an even more savage war in Myanmar.
Date posted: 2022-12-06