Where is Darfur?

Darfur is a far western region of Sudan, bordering the Central African Republic, Libya, and Chad. Covering an area of approximately 197,000 square miles (493,000 km²), Darfur is slightly smaller then Texas, larger then California, and 90% the size of France. It is divided into three federal states: Gharb Darfur (West Darfur), Janub Darfur (South Darfur), and Shamal Darfur (North Darfur). Its main towns are Al Fashir, Nyala and Geneina.

What is happening there?

Currently Darfur is home to one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. The Sudanese government, through the use of its own military and its support and funding of the Janjaweed militias, has unleashed a genocidal campaign upon the civilian populations of Darfur killing them indiscriminately.

The government of Sudan uses its Russian made Antonovs fighter jets and their anti-tank helicopters to bomb and attack innocent civilians and destroy their villages. The government supported Janjaweed militias are using what has been called a "scorched earth" campaign. They ride into the villages, burning them down; they kill or steal all the live stock, and destroy anything that they leave behind. This leaves the civilians little or nothing to come back if they were to decide to do so. The Janjaweed militias are most notably responsible for some the most brutal acts of torture and violence in recent history. Their systematic rape of females, regardless of age, and their throwing of small children and infants into burning huts are only two examples of the extreme violence being carried out upon the people of Darfur by the Janjaweed militias

Though the reports of the exact death toll in Darfur vary, they indicate that somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 people have been killed during this conflict. It's as if an entire mid-size American city were wiped to the ground; imagine if Oakland, Tulsa, Honolulu or Minneapolis suddenly disappeared.

Almost equally as shocking is the number of those displaced. The fear of rape and continued violence, along with the scorched earth campaign by the Janjaweed has driven around 2.5 million people into various refugee camps. Of that 2.5 million, over 110,000 of those displaced came in just the first three months of 2007. That translates into 1,222 people displaced every day, 51 people every hour, during the first three months of this year.

 Why is the government doing this?

The country of Sudan has long been at war with itself, most notably the war between the North and the South. Since Sudan became independent in 1956, there had been several governments that have succeeded each other. But in June of 1989 the National Islamic Front (NIF), led by current dictator General Omer al-Bashir, lead a coup and took control of the Government of Sudan. Unraveling any progress for peace between the North and the South, Bashir revoked the constitution established by the previous government; banned opposition parties, and moved into the Islamic Justice System.

It was not until January 9, 2005 that this 20 year civil war would finally came to a close through the signing of the Naivasha Accords. Through this, and other peace agreements, the South gained not only more political control but also a share in the vast profits from the countries lucrative oil exports.

It is not a coincidence that once the legitimate peace talks between the North and the South started things in Darfur began to heat up. Bashir's government stems from a few elite tribes from Khartoum area of Northern Sudan. As the regime is widely unpopular and has a small power base, the government relies on chaos to not only survive but to justify their oppressive measures. As the peace talks between the North and the South continued the Darfur rebels took up arms because of not only years of political and economic marginalization, abuse, and neglect but because they had been left out of the wealth and power sharing agreement between the government and the southern rebels.

Since much of Sudan suffers the same marginalization as Darfur other rebel movements had begun to spring up, like in Beja (eastern Sudan) and Nuba (central Sudan). During the peace talks the government was under extreme pressure to accommodate the power and oil profit sharing demands of the Southern rebels. But the government's response to the rebel uprising in Darfur made it clear that they were not willing to further share the wealth. Their message to the rest of rebels and those that may support them was made very clear, submit or expect their wrath.

The differences between ethnicities, the lack of natural resources, and the effects of the expanding desert have been noted by the media as reasons for the conflict in Darfur. Though they may contribute slightly it is important to note that they are all issues exploited by Bashir and the NIF controlled government in an attempt to further divide the people, maintain control, and justify their attacks on innocent civilians of Darfur.