當年今日﹕International Day of Peace
【明報專訊】Today is celebrated as the International Day of Peace (國際和平日). However, with war still raging in so many parts of the world, world peace is not in sight.
The origin
The International Day of Peace, sometimes unofficially called World Peace Day, is observed annually on 21 September.
The day originated from the United Nations General Assembly (聯合國大會) in 1981. A resolution sponsored by the United Kingdom and Costa Rica to devote a day to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace was adopted. The day was observed for the first time the following year.
◆War zones around the world
We Hong Kong people might not feel it, but people are dying and fleeing in many parts of the world. According to Business Insider, the world's 10 worst war zones are as follows:
(1) Syria ( 敘利亞)
Owing to a raging civil war, more than 76,000 people were killed in Syria in 2014. The civil war began in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring (阿拉伯之春), a series of uprisings against authoritarian regimes in pursuit of democracy. In Syria, the government forces, led by President Bashar al-Assad (阿薩德), engaged in a civil war with the opposition consisting of Free Syrian Army (FSA).
A large part of Syria's eastern territory is now under the control of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, 伊斯蘭國). Not only does the terrorist group currently controls the territory occupied by ten million people in Iraq and Syria, but it also has nominal control over small areas of Libya and Nigeria.
(2) Iraq (伊拉克)
Government forces' fighting with ISIS left 21,000 killed in Iraq in 2014. It was reported earlier this year that ISIS had used chemical weapons such as mustard gas (芥子毒氣) in Iraq.
(3) Afghanistan (阿富汗)
Taliban (塔利班), an Islamic group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, was deposed following the US's War on Terror. It is now an insurgent group that fights against government forces.
(4) Nigeria (尼日利亞)
Conflicts with Boko Haram (博科聖地), an Islamic extremist group based in northeastern Nigeria, killed 11,529 people last year.
(5) South Sudan (南蘇丹)
Fighting between rebels and government forces in South Sudan killed 6,389 people last year. South Sudan (officially the Republic of South Sudan) is a landlocked country in northeastern Africa that gained its independence from Sudan in 2011.
(6) Pakistan (巴基斯坦)
The conflicts between the Pakistani government forces and the Pakistani Taliban, which is allied with the Afghan militants of the same name and shares a similar jihadist (聖戰 ) ideology, killed 5,496 people.
(7) Sudan (蘇丹)
Armed conflicts in several Sudanese states have caused civilian deaths and injuries, sexual violence against women and girls, unlawful destruction of civilian property, and have forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes.
(8) Ukraine (烏克蘭)
The Ukraine crisis began on 21 November 2013, when President Viktor Yanukovych (亞努科維奇) suspended preparations for the implementation of an association agreement with the European Union. That led to large-scale protests. The following year, Yanukovych was ousted (推翻), but pro-Russia militants began occupying Ukraine's eastern cities, which ultimately led to the annexation (併吞) of Crimea (克里米亞) by Russia.
(9) Somalia (索馬里)
The internationally-backed government, which was installed in 2012, fights with the Islamic group Al-Shabab (青年黨), which has already declared allegiance (效忠) to al-Qaeda (阿蓋達組織).
(10) Central African Republic (中非共和國)
The civil war between the Seleka (塞雷卡) rebel coalition and government forces began in December 2012. Fighting in the country claimed 3,347 lives last year.
