Darfur

Solutions in Darfur

Lush natural surroundings, a flourishing community, and a humbled people, all burned to ashes in an instant. To know Darfur, Sudan before the rebel Janjaweed clan took over, was to know the heart of Africa. Her 6 million people were harmonious with nature and all the gifts she provided for them. Then the bullets came. Villages were rent asunder, her land and women raped, the children taken as forced fighters, and the men murdered in cold blood.

400,000 people wiped off the face of the Earth all because of their ethnic background, and no one has stepped forward to actively help the people of Darfur. What then must done in order to help the refugees? The United Nations must actively become involved by means of direct military action or sanctioning upon the Sudanese government, in order to protect the basic human rights of the innocent men, women, and especially children, of Darfur, from the vile torture of the Janjaweed.

Darfur, a region approximately the size of Texas, lies in the western borders of Sudan. As stated earlier, the 6 million residents of Darfur live a Spartan lifestyle, being some of the most destitute people in Africa. The populace consists of two ethnic classes; the non-Arab black Africans, and the Arab black Africans. The majority of Darfurians rely upon agrarian farming as their source of income. However after decades of drought and harsh treatment from the government, life for Darfuri people has become even more distressing (Pity the people).

The hostility in Darfur commenced in 2003. The non-Arab Darfurians mostly consisting of farmers, who were tired of the social injustices enacted by the current president Omar al Bashir, formed two rebel groups known as the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality movement (JEM). In response to the rebel movement the government responded with gruesome retaliation (Pity the people).

The Sudanese government hired and supplied local militias composed of Arab Africans known as the Janjaweed. Under direct government order, the group has methodically and routinely destroyed villages, raped women, murdered men women and children, and tortured all people of non-Arab ethnicity. The Janjaweed particularly attack farm fields and fresh water supplies because the rebels consists predominately of farmers. Every facet of life in Darfur has been affected by these attacks.

Nearly 2.3 million people have been displaced into refugee camps by the brutal tyranny of Sudan’s national government. The government purposely wants to instill fear in its people’s lives. For example, by using white fighter planes, the same color as the United Nations peacekeeping planes, people never know if an air raid or a food drop is occurring (The worsening chaos). The over 400,00 murders has been labeled as genocide, or the mass killing of a specific group of people; the only time in history when genocide has been labeled while it is still occurring. The citizens have little to no hope in their lives for salvation from the wretched onslaught of bullets, bombs, and fire.

The cash-starved, thinly spread African Union provides the only sense of military presence to support the tortured civilians. The 7400 troops of the African Union continue to display their disorganization through the rarity of firing upon Janjaweed soldiers. The only purpose they really serve is to report violations of the feeble ceasefire treaty. The United Nations has only provided humanitarian support and not military aid, which truly must be done.

Clearly the only troops available in Darfur remain inadequate and undermanned. Currently the United Nations stations 26,000 troops in Darfur but they serve only as a defensive tactic. Protecting civilians from bodily harm proves their sole forceful privilege, and they do not even posses the authority to seize weapons from rebels (Life and death). The United Nations must, in a sense, fight fire with fire in Darfur. By sending troops to offensively attack the Janjaweed it lets Sudan that these horrible injustices will not be tolerated.

The issue comes up that by bringing more arms and fights into Darfur, it will only cause more harm and destruction to the land and lives of innocent civilians. However, while bringing more troops in will cause an escalation in fighting, letting the government continue to persecute innocent men women and children will cause far greater damages. Leaving civilians to fend for themselves will increase the death toll from 400,000 to 500,000 possibly one million and beyond (Herlinger). Offensive military force provides the greatest solution for an immediate improvement of conditions in Darfur.

While military action will cause an immediate improvement, long lasting development will not occur unless the UN forces sanctioning upon the Sudanese government. Currently Sudan has had slight cuts in international trade however this has not stopped frequent weapons trafficking between neighboring countries. Also organizations like the European Union have imposed zero sanctions against the Republic of Sudan and do not deter others from trading with the nation. Nations like China pose the biggest