The New York Times report the other week that the situation in Darfur has worsened as Sudan has expelled major foreign aid organizations. This is making an already bad situation worse. Many people in refugee camps are going with out food and any form of medical attention.
But what is going on over there and why should you care? From wikipedia:
The War in Darfur is a conflict that is in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, the current lines of conflict are seen by some reporters (such as those with USA Today and Slate magazine) to be ethnic, rather than religious.[6] However, a United Nations report[7] states that the various tribes under attack (chiefly the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa tribes) do not appear to have a distinct ethnicity from their attackers.
One side of the armed conflicts is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group recruited mostly from the Afro-Arab Abbala tribes of the northern Rizeigat region in Sudan. They are mainly camel-herding nomads. The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, andMasalit ethnic groups. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support.[8][9] The conflict began in February 2003. ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict
The Janjaweed with support from the Sudanese government are attaching villages in Darfur. They are killing the men, women and children who live there and burning everythying down so the survivors can not return. Villagers are forced to moved to crowed reffiugee camps where food is scarse. Women must travel miles to look for food and risk getting raped. Rape in this culture is viewed as the women’s fault and many women can not even tell there own families members for fear of being exposed. I herd a story of a women who told her mother and her mother told the tribale leader who proceeded to have the villagers stone the women.
I have to ask: How can you not care? These are clear human rights violations and these are real people suffering. I know we have our own problems here with the economy and people loosing jobs but we don’t have to fear our homes being burned down. Or fear getting asulted going to the grociery store.
To me its hard to believe that in this day and age these crimes agianst humanity are still happening. In school we learned about the Nazi’s and the million of people they killed as a result of ethnic cleansing. Here we are 50 years later and the these same type of horrific acts are still being committed.
In my own country of El Salvador kidnapping was a way for the goverment to punish anyone who suppored the rebelion. I have friends who were taken way from there homes by the goverment and who had to watch as their parents were killed. I have seen first hand the pain these acts can cause. Thats why I think its so important that we do something to help the people of Darfur.
I know this isn’t a an easy topic to hear about and its almost easier not know what is going on, but I encourage all of you to look into it. I have talked to people before and they aren’t sure of whats going on. They ask me “But what can I do to help?” Well at the very least you could sign up for the newsletter over at www.savedarfur.org. This will give you regular updates about the situation and what you can do to help. Even if its sending a letter to the local representative it all helps. They make it really easy to do this by providing a template. You just enter your name and address and hit send.
Now that Sudan has expelled many of the groups that are providing aid they need your help more than ever. Please, please do something. Donate or sign up for the newsletter or help spread the word. They need YOU to speak up for them.
Here is a short vidoe about the current situation.
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