Darfur Crisis

Part I: Description of Crisis

A. What Kind of Humanitarian Crisis

a. Complex

i. The Darfur Crisis in Sudan is vastly complex in nature. It encompasses religious, ethnic, and tribal tensions. These tensions have been triggered by the limited farmland and rich water sources in the region.

ii. Considered an ethnic genocide by the United States although the UN has not recognized it as a genocide.

1. Estimates of over 200,000 people have been killed by armed attacks, malnutrition and disease caused by the vast displacement of people.

2. Estimates in 2008, are that 2.7 million people have been displaced.

3. The Chadian-Sudanese border has been overflowed with fleeing people looking to escape. It has been the location of major humanitarian aid and protection for displaced citizens.

iii. The crisis is a combination of multinational conflicts, multistate tension, and natural resources.

B. How did the Humanitarian Crisis Develop?

a. Pre-existing tensions

i. Prior to 2003, Darfur has been the location of constant cultural clashes and civil wars over the past 21 years.

ii. "The United States helped set up a peace agreement to end civil war in the south of Sudan which allocated government positions and oil revenues to the rebels in the south."

b. Sides

i. Sudanese Government and a Northern Nomadic Junta called the Janjaweed

1. Both groups are of Muslim decent

ii. Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)

1. Non-Arab groups/ Black Africans

2. Loosely allied together but separate in nation

c. Tension- Human Action and Nature Based

i. The Sudanese government was being accused of sponsoring the seizures of farmland which had rich water sources for cattle.

ii. The majority of Non-Arabs are black Africans who rely on the farmland and water to exist in a nomadic way.

iii. Religious and racial tensions pre-existed. Non- Arabs which are extremely affected by government seizure of land felt the oppression of the government was based on religion and race.

d. Response

i. In March of 2003, the SLA and the JEM attacked government forces in response to the seizure of farmland.

ii. Bashir Khartoum's, Sudan's leader, is accused of commissioning and aiding the Janjaweed junta in arms supply and economic support.

1. Janjaweed militias respond by pillaging villages