Terror
"Large-scale attacks against civilians continue, women and girls are being raped by armed groups, yet more villages are being burned, and thousands more are being driven from their homes." -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a December 23rd report released at the UN. That is a fitting description of terror, and it is what is being played out in Darfur, Sudan, as armed militia roam unchecked and a power struggle ensues between rebel groups in the region.
The reasons for the conflict is complex -- but that's an excuse for more debate and inaction. It boils down to simply three reasons: race, religion and wealth. Where have we seen this before? Sudan has two peoples: Africans and Arabs. The Arabs are in power and control the wealth of the nation. The rebels of the Darfur region don't think they're being treated well in their own country. To combat the rebels, the Sudanese government armed Arab thugs and released them in Darfur. Read the quote from Annan again. That's the result. The UN has repeatedly called for the Sudanese government to disband the militias, but the government has done nothing. When will the world intervene? The government in Sudan has demonstrated its inability and lack of interest in ending the violence. It isn't looking for a truce or negotiations. The conflict, which started in the fall of 2003, is creating a state of unrest that only helps solidify their grip on power and the nation. It has also created a disaster that relief agencies and struggling to cope with, as refugees flee their homes to camps ill-equipped to handle them. The world is spending money and effort trying to deal with a refugee problem that is growing, yet is doing little to close the wound.
Where is the coalition of the willing? Nowhere. It is Africans after all that is suffering.
The reasons for the conflict is complex -- but that's an excuse for more debate and inaction. It boils down to simply three reasons: race, religion and wealth. Where have we seen this before? Sudan has two peoples: Africans and Arabs. The Arabs are in power and control the wealth of the nation. The rebels of the Darfur region don't think they're being treated well in their own country. To combat the rebels, the Sudanese government armed Arab thugs and released them in Darfur. Read the quote from Annan again. That's the result. The UN has repeatedly called for the Sudanese government to disband the militias, but the government has done nothing. When will the world intervene? The government in Sudan has demonstrated its inability and lack of interest in ending the violence. It isn't looking for a truce or negotiations. The conflict, which started in the fall of 2003, is creating a state of unrest that only helps solidify their grip on power and the nation. It has also created a disaster that relief agencies and struggling to cope with, as refugees flee their homes to camps ill-equipped to handle them. The world is spending money and effort trying to deal with a refugee problem that is growing, yet is doing little to close the wound.
Where is the coalition of the willing? Nowhere. It is Africans after all that is suffering.
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