Thousands of people are fleeing ongoing inter-communal clashes in South Sudan's Jonglei State and the newly created Greater Pibor Administrative Area—the latest challenge to efforts to cement peace following last month's formation of a unity government. Médecins Sans Frontières reported an influx of 83 wounded patients last week and said it had treated 45 gunshot wounds in Pibor, as fighting between Lou Nuer and Murle ethnic militias continued. "We are very worried about the extreme level of violence that some of the patients have been subjected to," said Claudio Miglietta, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. "This is not just a matter of providing medical care, it is also a protection concern, with some of the most vulnerable, including young children and pregnant women, being targeted."

Nine years ago this week, the Syrian Revolution began with peaceful pro-democracy protests. The first demonstrations broke out in the city of Deraa after local schoolchildren painted a mural depicting scenes and slogans from the recent revolutions in other Arab countries, and were detained and brutalized by the police. The Bashar Assad regime responded to the demonstrations with serial massacres. After months of this, the Free Syrian Army emerged, initially as a self-defense militia to protect protesters. But the situation soon escalated to an armed insurgency. The regime lost control of areas of the country, and local civil resistance committees backed by the FSA seized control. Assad then escalated to levels of violence rarely seen on Earth since World War II.

Some 60,000 asylum-seekers sent back by the United States to Mexico until their claims can be heard in US courts face a longer wait in Mexican limbo after the US Supreme Court issued an order on March 11 that allowed a controversial anti-immigration policy to stand. An appeals court in San Francisco had ruled that the policy—officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, but known as "Remain in Mexico"—was unlawful in the two border states under its jurisdiction: Arizona and California. The new order means asylum-seekers must now pin their hopes on the outcome of an expected formal appeal by President Donald Trump's administration—but that might not play out through the courts until early 2021.

Bolivia's National Council to Combat Illicit Drug Trafficking (CONALTID) has issued a new strategy paper calling for changes to the country's General Coca Law that would allow eradication operations throughout the Chapare region in the eastern lowlands. The change would overturn a reform of the law made under Evo Morales that permitted coca cultivation for the legal domestic market throughout most of Chapare.  The CONALTID strategy asserts that 91% of Chapare coca production is being diverted to the illicit market. (Página Siete, March 10) In announcing the policy change, Defense Minister Fernando López issued a stern warning to the inhabitants of the Chapare: "We are not playing, we are ready for anything." (Página Siete, Feb. 14) Chapare, a heartland of support for the ousted Morales, has been a de facto autonomous zone outside the control of La Paz since last year's coup d'etat.

In his talks with Vladimir Putin on their carve-up of northern Syria, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that he has proposed joint Russian-Turkish control of the oil-fields in Deir ez-Zor province, now under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). "I made the offer to Mr. Putin that if he gives financial support, we can do the construction, and through the oil obtained here, we can help the destroyed Syria get on its feet," Erdogan told reporters March 10. (Al Monitor) The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reports that the SDF has been selling oil from the Deir ez-Zor fields to the Assad regime. A regime-aligned entity called the Qatirji Group is reportedly brokering the deal. (VOA)

Somali troops clashed with forces from the country's semi-autonomous Jubaland region last week in a flare-up of violence that is raising tensions with neighboring countries and may play into the hands of the militant group al-Shabab. Tensions have been rising since August, when Jubaland's incumbent president, Ahmed Madobe, won regional elections that Mogadishu described as "not free and fair." The central government wanted a loyalist candidate to win, as it seeks greater control over Somalia's regions ahead of upcoming national elections. Kenya, which has troops deployed as part of an African Union peace enforcement operation, is on the side of Madobe, who it sees as an ally against al-Shabab, while Ethiopia has aligned with Mogadishu. Kenya accused Somali troops of encroaching on its territory and destroying property during last week's violence, while the US said that the clashes are a distraction in efforts against al-Shabab. An estimated 56,000 people have been uprooted by the recent fighting. according to the UN.

A total of 12 inmates have been killed in prison riots across Italy, triggered by emergency restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The riots began March 8 in response to regulation changes that include the suspension of family visits. Uprisings have been reported from the facilities at Modena, near Bologna; Rieti, outside Rome; Poggioreale in Naples; Foggia in Apulia; and Palermo, Sicily. In Modena's Santa Ana prison, fires were started and guards taken hostage. Soldiers and Carabinieri surrounded the facility to prevent inmates from escaping. Relatives of the inmates have also staged demonstrations outside the prisons. Protests and riots have been reported at a total of 27 prisons across Italy.

Police in Kyrgyzstan detained dozens of women's rights activists on March 7—shortly after the International Women's Day march was attacked by masked men. The activists gathered in a central square of capital Bishkek for the march. But masked men, some wearing traditional Kyrgyz white felt hats, attacked the protesters, grabbing and tearing apart their banners. The attackers left as soon as police arrived on the scene and proceeded to detain about 50 activists, mostly women. (Reuters) That same day, the women's march in Mexico City's main square was set upon by anti-abortion protesters, overwhelmingly men, some of whom gave the Nazi salute. There were scuffles between the two groups, and at one point marchers hurled Molotov cocktails over police lines toward the presidential palace. (Reuters)