Darfur is an area of subsistence farmers and pastoral nomads in northwest Sudan, adjoining the nation of Chad. It is about the size of France. The population is made up of Africans and Arabs, almost all of whom are Muslims. Sudan itself is Arab-controlled.

In early 2003, two African organizations from the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa (African) ethnic groups protested government policies which they said kept them in chronic poverty. The “liberation movements,” branded as “rebels,” especially sought protection from the economic interests of Arab nomads (Janjaweed, Janjawid or Jingaweit), who maintain their own militia. The Janjaweed, assisted by the government in Khartoum, responded by striking out at African “civilians,” including women and children. Villages were burned, women raped, and crops destroyed.

The United Nations reports that in the last 16 months more than 30,000 Africans have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes. Today, an estimated 120,000 displaced persons are in refugee camps, many of them in Chad.

During its early stages, outsiders had difficulty distinguishing the situation in Darfur from other conflicts in Sudan, especially in the south, where the government faced serious challenges and where Muslim-Christian tensions were involved. International efforts led in the late spring of 2004 to a tenuous peace in the south; however, the agreements did not cover Darfur.

Greater stability in the south allowed more attention to Darfur and to the particular factors fueling the violence. While some refugee services were provided in Chad, on-the-spot international inspections inside Darfur were not possible until recent weeks. The conditions were found to be so inhumane that the Janjaweed were accused by UN officials of engaging in systematic “ethnic cleansing.”

Both United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Darfur to dramatize the plight of the people and to issue calls for massive international aid. The U.S. Congress in late July labeled the situation in Darfur as “genocide.” Subsequently, the U.N. Security Council considered the possibility of economic sanctions against the Sudanese government but on July 30 decided to give Sudan 30 days to do a better job of controlling the Janjaweed.

The African Union, an organization of African governments, has explored the possibility of a regional peacekeeping force and has a small presence in Darfur. There is little progress to date toward a multi-national peace keeping operation.

Several religious organizations, including the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, have called for faster and more effective international efforts to end the ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

	See Also... Topic: International affairs |  Geographic Region: Sudan |  Source: GBGM Administration
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Date posted: Aug 04, 2004