Afra AlKaabi 9B

Darfur is a region of Sudan, located in Eastern Africa directly south of Egypt and east of Chad. Darfur is located in the western portion of Sudan and is known around the world as the site of significant conflict over the last six years.

In February 2003, non-Arab residents revolted against the government, which in turn sent an Arab-Sudanese military called the Janjaweed to destroy villages throughout the region and stop the uprising. Estimates of the death toll are 400,000 people, most civilians including children, women and men not involved with the military. An additional 3 million residents of Darfur have been relocated to IDP camps and 4 million rely on humanitarian aid.

Government neglect has left people throughout Sudan poor and voiceless and has caused conflict throughout the country. In February 2003, frustrated by poverty and neglect, two Darfurian rebel groups launched an uprising against the Khartoum government.

Americans have a particularly important role to play in supporting peace in Darfur. The US government has been proactive in speaking out in support of the people of Darfur, but there is still much work that needs to be done. The United States and international governments have yet to take the actions needed to end this genocide. Long-term peace in Darfur requires that the government of Sudan, the Janjaweed militia forces and the rebel groups of Darfur find a way to resolve their political and economic disputes. The international community managed to broker a peace deal in May 2006, but violence in Darfur actually increased in the wake of this deal.

While there have been many protests and demands made of the world governments to stand against the genocide, not much has been done. As long as nothing is done, millions are still displaced from there homes. One effect will be that it is now the economic responsibility of the countries to which these people have been displaced to give them shelter, food and other forms of aid.

How this will affect the global stage beyond pleas for money on behalf of non-profits cannot yet be discovered. If these people are forced to stay in other countries, perhaps those countries will receive new additions to their labor forces. Perhaps those refugees will be forced to start new lives and their future children will no longer consider themselves as from Darfur but as citizens from other countries. One could wonder that perhaps the genocide will be successful in that way.

Thousands of innocent civilians continue to die from disease and starvation every month. Today, millions of displaced civilians living in refugee camps are in dire need of international support as the violence continues ….