About Darfur

Darfur (literally ‘the home or house of the Fur’ tribe) is the remote and arid western region of Sudan, the size of France, with a population of six million. Since 2003 an estimated 250,000-400,000 people have died as a consequence of a campaign of ethnic cleansing, orchestrated by the government of Sudan and its mainly Arab militia proxies.

It is considered more politically correct to blame environmental factors, such as the southward creep of the Sahara desert to explain why Arab tribes want to push the native, mainly black African tribes (Fur, Zagawa and Masselit) from their land. However, there is a racist aspect of the ethnic cleansing campaign, undertaken by the Sudan government and militias that believe black Africans to be inferior to Arabs, merely suitable as slaves. The same racism was behind Khartoum’s twenty-year campaign to kill black African tribes in southern Sudan, at the cost of an estimated two million lives.

Darfur’s recent problems began in 1989 when Sudan’s government was overthrown by extremist Islamic fundamentalists led by Omar Bashir, who remains president today. Bashir’s junta banned elections and free speech, and locked up, tortured or killed opponents. It imposed Sharia law on Christian and animist communities in the south, and it centralised power in Khartoum. Despite its oil riches, Khartoum kept the revenues for itself and starved the provinces of aid for development. Consequently Darfur has very little infrastructure, and like several other regions of Sudan, its people have grievances because of their relative poverty and exclusion from power.

Bashir’s regime waged a twenty-year against southern Sudan, using local Arab militias, supported by aerial bombardment from the Sudanese armed forces. The international community eventually brokered a peace deal with some measure of autonomy for southern Sudan, signed in January 2005. As the war against the south was winding down, Khartoum began to use the same tactics in Darfur, bombing villages with government Antonovs and helicopters. The raids were followed by attacks, on horse and camel, by Janjaweed Arab militias who killed men and boys, raped women and girls, set fire to homes and stole livestock. By 2005, ninety per cent of the black African villages in Darfur had been destroyed, and two million people had fled to internal refugee camps or to neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic. Janjaweed militias continue to raid villages and have crossed the borders into both countries.

Recently some Arab groups have turned on the central government forces of Khartoum, believing they have been manipulated. The Darfur rebel groups have been divided from the beginning, and some argue they represent their own interests, rather than those of Darfur’s civilians.

Bandits roam unhindered across Darfur, stealing aid from humanitarian groups and harassing aid workers. International groups are withdrawing their staff because the risks are too high, and because the Sudanese authorities make it as difficult as possible to deliver aid and support to refugees.

A mere 7,000 African Union monitors have attempted to oversee events in Darfur, and they often lack even the petrol to go out on patrol. They have no mandate to protect civilians (or themselves, it would seem, after the massacre of 10 peacekeepers in September 2007).

Peace talks are hampered by rebels’ distrust of the Khartoum regime. Sudan-watchers know that military junta’s track record at making promises it breaks, and engaging diplomats in long-winded negotiations that lead to agreements that Khartoum fails to honour. Observers point to how little of the 2005 deal between Khartoum and southern Sudan has been implemented.

Even in the refugee camps, women continue to be attacked and raped when they venture out for firewood. The strains of dislocation and the consequences of the genocide have caused havoc within the very traditional social structures, adding to the pressure on women in particular, who try to hold their families together. President Bashir has announced that rape does not exist in Muslim societies, implying that women who claim they have been raped are promiscuous and therefore to blame. In a situation where humanitarian groups struggle to provide enough food, it is hardly surprising that the traumas and injuries of the survivors are not being addressed.

After years of inaction, the United Nations Security Council has finally approved a peacekeeping force for Darfur. However, Khartoum has made it clear it will only accept troops from African countries. This leads to concerns that there will be a shortage of well-equipped, well-trained troops with the resources necessary to cover Darfur. Throughout this tragedy, the international community has consistently shown itself lacking in the political will necessary to stand up to the military junta in Khartoum. Only continuing pressure on the government of Sudan will ensure that a sufficient peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilians and disarm combatants goes to Darfur. It is already too late to save the estimated 250,000-400,000 who have already died, and the millions who are now displaced.

For more information about Darfur go to www.WagingPeace.info