5darfurwho

Who: The Victims and Perpetrators

The people of Darfur have been living a nightmare since 2003. Since then, 2.7 million innocent civilians have fled their homes to live in special camps with about 300,000 deaths so far. Darfur (the land of the fur) has faced years upon years of fighting for grazing rights and land with Arabs especially. Accusing the government of "oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs," (news.bbc.co.uk) the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army began their attacks. The camps that the people of Darfur stay in can easily be compared to a jail cell. Nowadays, the Janjaweed are constantly on patrol around the camps. Men are likely to be slaughtered and women are likely to be raped if one wanders off too far out; even if they are doing a simple task such as looking for water or firewood. (Janjaweed displayed in the picture) Unfortunately, it is very difficult for aid agencies to help people who are in danger simply because those areas are completely insecure and very dangerous. About 200,000 people have found some security in Chad. Many are vulnerable from Sudan's attacks and line along the border. Apparently, there's no safe place to hide around Darfur these days; even in Chad there is violence. Neighbors seem to always be accused of supporting rebel groups causing more and more violence for the innocent people of Darfur. Many believe that the president, Omar al-Bashir is to blame for this mess by constantly being accused of the support of pro-government militias.

KA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3496731.stm http://maryt.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/darfur_2.jpg http://gardenhomearchitects.com/Darfur-Janjaweed.gif

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