Background on Darfur

September 29, 2006

It’s tough to miss the headlines about Darfur these days, especially when George Clooney gets involved. But do you know what’s going on?

An estimated 400,000 people at least are dead from the fighting there and two million are said to be displaced—enough to fill Houston , the fourth largest city in the United States. Darfur3_1

They’re living in refugee camps and fleeing to neighboring countries as violence has escalated to include rape, slaughter, women held as sex slaves and burned villages. The United Nations calls what’s happening war crimes, others call it genocide.

Who’s fighting whom?
It’s complex. But in a nutshell, rebel groups felt the government was ignoring Darfur and discriminating against Africans in favor of Arabs, who dominate the government, so they attacked in 2003. Since then they’ve been fighting with the janjaweed, the government-aligned militia accused of much of the violence. The government denies an association with the janjaweed.

Where’s the help?
Efforts are underway but with little success. A peace agreement to disarm the janjaweed is stalled, and 20,000 United Nations peace keepers can’t enter Sudan. The government emphatically rejects foreign interference. The under-funded African Union peacekeeping troops (made up of representatives from African nations) are there but it’s unclear what kind of impact they are having.

What’s next?
U.S. Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice has threatened sanctions as has the House of Representatives. Pressure is coming from the international community, George Clooney and Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel to let in the U.N. China, however, did not support a U.N. resolution. They’re Sudan’s biggest buyer of oil.

Big picture
A U.N. chief sees no peacekeeping mission there in sight and the African Union will leave at the end of the year.

Sign_up