Yi Jian 1
Troubles in Darfur
For many years, a rise of discussions has been going on around communities and the internet about issues that are occurring at a location called Darfur. Likewise, many media also mention the problematic affairs taking place at Darfur, but how in depth do these sources really go? It is uncertain. Therefore, my objective in this paper is to unravel the depth of information that lies behind Darfur and its issues.
Darfur, or the homeland of the Fur, is a territory located on the western boarder of Sudan. It is made up of three states since 1995. It is comprised of North, West, and South Darfur. Darfur occupies a humongous area up to 510,888 km2, similar to the size of the Asian country Thailand. It boarders with Chad to the west, Libya to the Northwest, and the Central African Republic to the Southeast. The demographics of the people that reside in Darfur are mostly the Fur, together with the Masaalit and Zaghawa, the most numerous black African groups, locally known as Zurga. The other large ethnic family consists of the Arabs or Arab-descents migrants(Vehnamaki 1).
With over 400,000 Darfurians civilians dead, 150,000 of the people were violently killed, and the rest were from diseases and battles. Darfur is currently one of the most dangerous places on the planet primarily from the conflicts and issues it is currently facing (Darfur- Facts and Timeline).
A major issue that transpired in Darfur was genocide. Genocide is defined as one of the most extreme way to settle conflicts. A situation where the stronger party decides to annihilate or to eradicate a weaker party (Lindberg 10). The genocide in Darfur was carried out by a group of government-armed and funded Arab militias also known as the Janjaweed (a loose translation of it means “devils” on horsebacks). The Janjaweed destroyed the Darfurians by burning the villages, marauding their economic resources, polluting water sources, and torturing the civilians. Their rivals are against the rebels Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) (“Genocide in Darfur”).
This conflict began in 2003, when the rebels (SLM) wished for greater political and economic rights for black Darfurians from the Sudanese government in Khartoum, which was controlled by the Arabs. As a result the government responded by unleashing the Janjaweed against the black Darfurians (Polgreen). Another reason was that the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement began attacking the government, for accusing the government in Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in the favor of the Arabs. The many years of land and grazing rights between the nomadic Arabs and the farmers of the Fur also added more tension to the feud (“Q&A: SUDAN”).
The cause of the genocide in Darfur can also be traced back to the economic pressures that have been building up over the last couple of decades. Darfur was originally an underdeveloped region of Sudan in which the natives’ Muslim population view itself divided between the African Agriculturalists (farmers) and the Arab pastoralist (sheep/cattle farmers). The racial differences between Africans and the Arabs have increasingly dominated the politics and sociology of Darfur. The historical patterns for the nomadic tribe were to drift to the Agricultural regions in the dry season (Nov-April) in searching of water and grazing land. Due to this migration, a conflict occurred between the African and non-African over land in the mid-1980s when a drought occurred and deforestation occurred (Lippman 195).
The United Nations have reported that more than 2.7 million people have fled their homes and now live in camps near Darfur’s main towns. Despite having camps, Darfurians reported that if they ventured too far in search of water or firewood, the Janjaweed will murder the men and rape the women (“Q&A: Sudan”).
The genocide in Darfur also led to a refugee problem for the people of Chad, a neighboring nation west of Darfur. As chaos spreads from Darfur to Chad, it is deepening one of the world worst refugee crisis. Even the Arabs gunmen from Darfur havepushed into Chad, and began marauding the Chadians and their households. Ironically, this even led the Chadians to be refuges in their own fatherland (Polgreen).
Because of refugee camps both in Chad and Sudan are being overcrowded, the camps are prone to unwanted attacks from diseases, and about 20% of the Sudan populations in the camps are young people (“11 Facts about Darfur”). The sanitations in the camps are grim. Almost everyone have to eat and sleep alongside their sheep, goats, and donkeys. Beside the accumulation of dirt, there are not enough latrines (toilets), or convenient access to a clean source of water and soap for the tens of thousands refugees in the camps. As these dangerous conditions still occurring, it put children of Darfur at high risks for receiving dysentery, cholera, hepatitis, and malaria- all deadly killer (Fighting Deadly Diseases).
Hepatitis E, one of the deadly diseases has already struck the refugees in Darfur. Even the NGO Médecins Sans Frontièreshave reported over sixty cases of Hepatitis E in the Morni camp, as well as the Krinding, Ardamata and Dorti camps. As Hepatitis E is mainly transmitted through oral-fecal contamination, hygiene education and safe water is the key to terminate this disease and it is the top priority for the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)and its partners to help the refugees in Darfur (Fighting Deadly Diseases).
Despite all the issues Darfur is having, almost everyone around the world is trying to help the people in Darfur through many ways. Organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have created a Health and Hygiene Education program (HHEP), which is being implemented in Darfur’s overcrowded camps. The purpose of the program is to introduce the people in the camps to the importance of safe hygiene and sanitation practices (Fighting Deadly Diseases).
Another group The International Criminal Court (ICC) took the initial procedures to end the impurity in Darfur by launching investigation into the humans’ rights violation in Darfur. However the Sudanese’s government refused to cooperate. So on March 4, 2009 the Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, became the first president to be charged by the ICC for initiating a movement of mass killing, rape, and pillage against the Darfurians ( Genocide in Darfur).
An additional organization called the Help Darfur Now (HDN) program also contributed to the aid of the Darfurians. The HDN program help raised awareness andmoney for the victims of the genocide in Darfur. Since the founding of this program, HDN has grown to more than 300 nationwide sections involving thousands of students.
Some of the organizations mentioned are just a fragment of the many organizations currently assisting the civilians of Darfur in the side lines. The African Union (AU) is mainly the group currently assisting the Darfurians in battles against the Sudanese government, protection wise (Darfur: Genocide in Slow Motion).
Despite the African Union (AU) was able to provide security, the AU wasn’t able to provide much assistance. Due to a lack of troops, roughly about 5,000 soldiers, they don’t have a sufficient division of troops placed in each camp. Another negative setback was that the AU was only ordered to observe the cease-fire and help the citizens of Darfur only when the Janjaweed strikes. As a result, the AU was not capable of proactively defending the citizens (The African Union in Darfur).
Due to all the suffering the civilians in Darfur already faced, the United States should be involved in the Darfur’s conflict. From a humanitarian viewpoint, America should be involved because if anybody or any group is in trouble fighting for the right cause, the right thing to do is to support that person or group. Reason being is because it is the moral of humanity and we can’t discard that one essence that makes us superior from other beings. If we see a person getting attacked on in the street, the right thing is to help the person being attacked because it is the proper thing to do.
This genocide that transpired in Darfur has become a problem for everyone in the world even including myself. The line of responsibility for the world’s problems has already been drawn from the beginning of the human age. From the beginning of the human age, humans should have already been careful and do the appropriate tasks that will benefits everyone. Every actions we do have an outcome, and it affects a new event that will happen in the near or far future.Despite most citizens of other countries are not involved in the war, the genocide in Darfur is a wakeup call. It tells us that no matter what century we are in, genocide can still occur and may be even occurring somewhere as we are living our daily lives. People need to start being cautions and prepare for the future ahead, for the next genocide may be in our area.
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