DARFURCody AllenLea HutchinsonRon DoluntapYuki Nakamura

What is the Darfur Crisis? Darfur crisis is a violent conflict that is occurring in

Darfur, a region in Sudan. Called the “world greatest humanitarian crisis” by

Mukesh Kapila in 2004. This war is between the Sudan Government/Janjaweeds

and the JEM (Justice and Equality Movement)/NRF (National Redemption Front)

Has begun in 2003 and still is going on. The war was sparked, when the SLA (Sudan liberation

army) and the JEM began attacking the Sudan Government, because they accused the government for being kind to the Arabs, but not to the Black Africans.

Leaders

Omar Al-Bashir (Sudan) Ahmed Diraige (Rebels)

Darfur crisis has been persistent, because the Sudanese government has not allowed positive actions to be taken towards the conflict

Thesis

History of the problem In the western region known as Darfur, Arab

militiamen on horseback are known as the Janjaweed. The Janjaweeds have been ravaging the Darfur

region’s land and committing despicable acts against the region’s women, children, and well-being since 2003, but it took until July 2004 for the world community to realize what a threat this was to the country and people of Darfur.

As of August 2004, it has been recorded that 50,000 people have died and more than 2,000,000 have been left without food, clean water, or medicine.

Cause The people of Sudan were unhappy with their lack of

representation in the Sudanese government and the government was content with the marginalized economy and representation that the region was receiving. The National Islamic Front (based in the capital of Sudan) had done nothing to stop the increasingly violent attacks from the Janjaweed towards the tribes in Darfur and the Sudanese government had barely taken notice of the conflict. These attacks sprouted out of the racial and religious tensions between the Arab and African people of Darfur.

Due to the lack of money, the lack of political representation and lack of local law enforcement, in the region under attack, the region is under fire (literally and figuratively) of the Janjaweed.

EffectsThousands of villages have been burned or destroyed in some way, causing hundreds of thousands of people to become homeless.

EffectsDue to lack of water and other essential resources, the people of Darfur have become malnourished and starved if they have not died of diseases such as typhoid or malaria.

EffectsThe Janjaweed have left many children homeless due to the destruction of the villages and their homes. Many of these children are orphaned.

The Actions of the Sudanese Government

They have “self-defending” armies against the rebellion attacks. However, the government is accused of joining forces with the Janjaweeds. The government may be attacking the citizens with the Janjaweeds and also giving the Janjaweed financial and weapon support.

They are strongly against the UN peacekeeping force, because the government views them as invaders of the country.

The government signed a peace treaty with the SLM (Sudan Liberation Movement Army), however some of the members did not arrive at an agreement, so the group split into two.

Actions of the world towards the conflict

The United States says that the Darfur conflict is a “genocide”, however the UN doesn’t believe that it is a genocide, because they say that there are not enough elements (such as genocidal intent) to be officially called a “Genocide”.

In 2006, the United Nations have agreed to approve the resolution 1706, which sent many peace-keeping forces to Sudan. However, they have not been very successful.

There are many organizations such as the STAND (Student Anti-Genocide Coalition) that are trying to stop the crisis.

The actions taken by other countries and the United Nations

"We made our position very clear to the Sudanese government - they must stop Janjaweed (militia) violence, they must provide access to humanitarian relief for the people who suffer“ – George W. Bush 2004

Why is this a problem?The people of this region (which is relatively the

size of France) needed help to begin with. When they were ignored by the government, they were attacked and their resources were too impoverished to fight back. They were and are still under attack of the Janjaweed with the death toll rising daily. Our world has seen many genocides and the effects it has on a nation devastates the world. We are still living the after-effects of a genocide that happened nearly five decades ago! Genocide dilapidates culture and destroys thousands upon thousands of lives. The sooner our world comes to realize that we can make this thing less possible, the better it will be for any nation or culture or people that has ever experienced the horrific affects that genocide has.

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