Geography 120/Section 1
10 December 2007
Crisis in Darfur The crisis in Darfur is a very serious and ugly situation happening in the very heart of Africa in the country of Sudan. This is a conflict of much bloodshed and death that has been going on for many years and there seems to be no end in sight. It is a complicated conflict involving many people including rebel groups and corrupt governments. I will discuss the history of this conflict and how it is affecting the people and the country. I will also talk about different solutions to possibly end this horrible conflict. The Darfur conflict has often been portrayed as a struggle between Arabs and Africans sparked by ethnic and tribal tension over competition of resources. However as with many conflicts in Sudan and Africa as a whole there is no single root cause. It is a set of intertwined factors that are driving this war. Things such as historical grievances, perception of race, demand for power, the distribution of economic resources, and access to resources are just several of the numerous factors that are driving this war. This quote by a struggling woman typifies what is going on in Darfur, “I have been waiting here two days for my turn, and if the water finishes I will have to ask for water from other people," says Khadija Musa, the elderly woman. "Sometimes I have to borrow water to cook. Our clothes are filthy, we cannot wash without water." She rubs her shoulder and sighs. "The only thing left is to die"(Christian). The current conflict started in 2003, after several years of fighting between different Darfuri tribes. In 2002 the self proclaimed Darfur Liberation Front made a number of attacks on police stations and other government buildings. This group then went even further and captured the town of Tine and attacked the Al-Fashir airport. The government found out about this attack and was not happy with this group’s direction toward peace. The government decided to fight this rebellion outright. But, the government knew that their army was weak so they decided to supply small tribes around the area with supplies and guns. This group has become known as the Janjaweed. This quote states their purpose, “The government pays local militias, in this case the Janjaweed, to lead attacks on civilians in coordination with government aircraft. Though the government denies arming the Janjaweed, there have long been reports of coordinated attacks. This method worked very well for the government as a low-cost method of handling the armed rebellion during the civil war between the north and south that lasted from 1983 to 2005” (Joireman). The Janjaweed began to pull off attacks on civilian population. This did not make people very happy and the government would never admit to arming this group. But the government and the Sudanese army still helped out and supported the militia raids on villages. Fighting continued for several years until it seemed like it would stop when a peace treaty was put out for approval by the Sudanese government. Both sides disagreed on the treaty saying that it was not fair for the people and didn’t give them enough representation. This led to another outbreak of fighting that has lasted to present time. The UN is now trying to make peace by moving UN forces into the area of conflict. All of this fighting and bloodshed has made a huge impact on the civilian population. Since fighting began in 2003 there has been an estimated 200,000 people killed and two million displaced. This has been because of the pro-government militias that have burnt and looted villages, rapped woman and killed men, which has forced innocent people to flee across the border to seek refuge elsewhere. The sad part is that these people are still in danger of militia violence, and have no way of assistance. The militias have also aimed at their food producing capacity. They torched crops and food supplies which have taken away the people’s ability to feed themselves and to make money. When people travel to obtain essentials like firewood and food or to cultivate land, they risk being murdered by these militia groups. All of this has made so many people flee their home which has left land open. When people go to claim that land, the corrupt government manipulates it and say they can’t have it unless they serve in the war. This has torn families apart, and today there are nomadic herders living on those lands. This is a horrible conflict and needs to be stopped soon. Just recently, international parties like the UN have stepped in and have begun the process of moving forces in to stop this bloodshed. It is like the situation in Iraq where people need to move in and to restore peace from the inside. In Iraq it has been a long and hard process to keep things under control. In the CQ Researcher it reads “The Bush administration supports sanctions against the Khartoum government, but human-rights activists say an international force is needed to protect civilians” (Glazer). I definitely agree and I feel that the more international influence there is in the Darfur area the sooner there will be peace. In order to maintain peace there has to be protection for the people. This means to reduce the risk of threats of violence as well as obtaining security for the civilian population. This should be the foremost duty of governments; they should feel responsible for all those people living in their territory and provide the most protection they can. As the Darfur government seems to be corrupt and not very functional, it should be the responsibility of neighboring countries to help with this process and help out the country of Sudan. In order to maintain peace and protection there are some things that humanitarian protection need to focus on. The first of which is to stop patterns of abuse. The things that the insurgents have done like destroy villages and kill people have gone on for way too long. We need to stop this pattern so there is a sense of protection and security for the people. This follows along with my second point that we need to restore people’s lives by restoring their dignity and maintain a decent living condition through reparation and restitution. These people in Darfur have been through so much and it is up to the government to help build up these people and give them a place to live. The next point is to build up and keep an environment that is conducive to the rights and respect of people. The only way for people to keep on living and maintaining life is to have an environment that they can live in. All of these things should be done in accordance with other factors such as political and military intervention. This should all be a collective responsibility to protect the people and to obtain peace. In conclusion, I feel that there is hope for the country of Sudan and the Darfur area. The people there have been living in terror and bloodshed for way too long and peace is on the way. The way to bring about peace is to have international intervention and to give the people there a healthy environment to live in. All we need is a little cooperation for peace and justice to be served.