Darfur: The Ethnic Battle

In 2004 Colin Powell announced to the foreign relations committee: “ Call it civil war, call it ethnic cleansing, call it genocide, call it ‘none of the above.' The reality is the same. There are people in Darfur who desperately need the help of the international community.” In Darfur, thousands of people are suffering and being killed because of their ethnicity. Since 2003, over 400,000 people have been murdered in Darfur. This is genocide, and it is the result of the African tribes', such as the Furs', Massaleits', and Zaghawas', historical past and their connections with the Arab Muslims, such as the Janjaweed. Thousands of people will continue to die unless governments around the world are willing to stop it.

Because of the Fur, Massaleit, and Zaghawa African tribes' historical involvement with the Muslim Arabs, fighting and genocide is occurring. This historical past has increased tensions between the Arabs and the non-Arabs in the Sudanese region. Because of this, millions of people have been affected by this genocide. Over 400,000 people have been killed and nearly a million have been forced to move to refugee camps. Near the southern part of Darfur in the Hashba refugee camp, a woman, Annara, spoke of her tribe and the attack of the Arabian Muslim militia, the Janjaweed. She had lived in a tribe of about 25 people. When her tribe was first attacked by a Janjaweed militia, she escaped to the mountains were she stayed for 5 days. When she came back, everyone had either left or was killed. The militia returned again, screaming “ We are going to send you to the place where you need to go”; they took the last of what she had in the village. She barely escaped with her life. As Annara was walking to the refugee camp, she fortunately met up with her daughter and granddaughter. They now live in the refugee camp, sleeping in a small hut made from sticks and brush. This is just one story of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people who have escaped with their lives from the militia.

The relationship between these ethnic groups can be traced back to the 15 th century, during the rule of the Keira Dynasty. This dynasty was a sultanate, a country ruled by an Islamic ruler with full sovereignty . Over time the Keira Dynasty intervened with an African ethnic group called the Fur (agricultural people). The Keira dynasty ruled until the late 1800s, which was when they were overcome by Turkish-Egyptians. About 80 years later the Turkish-Egyptians were then defeated by a Muslim man named Muhammad Ahmad. Four years later in 1889 he was defeated by the British, who gave the Anglo-Egyptians indirect rule over the region. During this time the British restored the region around Darfur back to a sultanate, just to be overcome again by the Anglo-Egyptians.

Darfur eventually got its independence in Sudan in 1956, and economic and political marginalization continued. At the time it was settled by the Fur (farmers), the Nomadic camel herders (to the North), and by Arab cattle herders. In 1960, a drought forced these ethnic groups to move into the central part of Darfur, where there were more natural resources. Competition for these resources increased, and fighting broke out between the groups. Then in February 2003, the rebel groups of the Sudan Liberation Army Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement (most members of the Fur, Massaleit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups) accused the Sudanese Government of oppressing non-Arab ethnic groups. Immediately, Arab militia, called the Janjaweed, attacked these non-Arab or African groups, killing almost everyone. When the ethnic groups began to intervene, tensions rose and fighting broke out over resources and ethnic decent. This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, and is considered genocide.

As more and more people continue to die each day, governments around the world are taking different sides on this conflict. The Sudanese government has even been accused of supporting as well as arming the Arab militia; allowing them to go out and kill thousands of people. However other governments around the world are trying to stop this genocide. In 2004 the African Union encouraged a ceasefire, however the Janjaweed militia did not respond. The US, EU, and UN are also supplying and supporting troops to stop the Janjaweed militia.

To stop the genocide in Darfur, ethnic tensions must be significantly reduced. To reduce tensions, the United States must reform the Sudanese government into a government that does not support Muslim Arabs over African tribes. Also, governments should fund Sudan with money and supplies in order to rebuild villages and help people that have been living in refugee camps. The Sudanese government must also prevent ethnic competition and discrimination. To do this, money should go to making more natural resources available and usable so the sources can be distributed more fairly. If these things were done, Darfur could be restored to a peaceful area without ethnic tensions.

Genocide is occurring in Darfur. Countries, including the Sudanese government, must take a stand against this. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or displaced to refugee camps because of the Arab militia and their discrimination against the African tribes. If the tensions between these ethnic groups are reduced by limiting competition and eliminating discrimination, this genocide can be stopped, and by doing this throughout humanity, Genocide can be stopped worldwide, and thousands of lives can be saved.

By: Peter VanDusen