What is Darfur?

Darfur is the western region of Sudan, Africa. Darfur is not a country in itself. The region was home to about 6 million people and is about the size of France. There is mass Genocide going on in the region. I became aware from watching a documentary about the war, and one of my friends is from Sudan.

Where is Darfur?

Sudan

What is the Darfur Conflict

The Darfur Conflictis an ongoing guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in favor of Sudanese Arabs. One side of the conflict is composed mainly of the official Sudanese military and police, and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group recruited mostly from the Arab Abbala tribes of the northern Rizeigat region in Sudan; these tribes are mainly camel-herding nomads. The other combatants are made up of rebel groups, notably the SLM/A and the JEM, recruited primarily from the non-Arab Muslim Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit ethnic groups. Although the Sudanese government publicly denies that it supports the Janjaweed, it has been providing financial assistance and weapons to the militia and has been organizing joint attacks targeting civilians. The Sudanese government uses oil revenues to fund a military capacity that is in turn, used to conduct war in Darfur. Oil revenues collected from companies around the world fund the civil war as well as violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Sudan’s oil wealth has played a major part in enabling an otherwise poor government to fund the expensive bombers, helicopters and arms supplies which have allowed the Sudanese government to launch aerial attacks on towns and villages and fund militias to fight its proxy war in Darfur.

2.9 Million people uprooted

Mass killings

2003

March – Fighting breaks out in the Darfur region of western Sudan between Government forces and rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). A fresh round of attacks by Arab Janjaweed militias – including the burning of villages and the murder and rape of civilians – prompts at least 10,000 new refugees to stream into Chad. Sudanese Government begins policy of restricting humanitarian access by refusing or delaying travel permits to Darfur. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland says Darfur “has quickly become one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.”

2004

Negotiations fall through between the Sudanese Government and Janjaweed

2005

Peace talks and cease fire signed

2006

Fighting resumes thousands are killed and many more flee.

2007

Treaty signed to end war and conflict in Darfur

Nine rebel groups, the Democratic Popular Front, the Sudanese Revolutionary Front and the Justice and Equality Movement–Field Revolutionary Command — signed a Charter of Unification and agreed to operate under the name of SLM/A.
On November it was announced that Darfur's rebel movements had united into two large groups.

2008

Darfur Rebels traps refugees along Chad Border

Total dead in Darfur stands at 450,000 and displaced totals somewhere around 3,245,000.

2009

WAR IS OFFICIALLY OVER

MANY LEFT HOMELESS, GENOCIDE STILL CONTINUES

RELIEF IS SLOW TO NONE FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE

Why Should You Care?

It's Genocide. Wiping out of INNOCENT PEOPLE and GENERATIONS to come.

Trainig of CHILD SOLDIERS

It WILL HAUNT us if we do NOTHING

GENOCIDE WILL BE REPEATED SOMEWHERE ELSE