Darfur

For other uses, see Darfur (disambiguation).

Darfur (Arabic: دار فور, lit. "home of the Fur") is a region of far western Sudan, bordering the Central African Republic, Libya, and Chad. It is divided into three federal states within Sudan: Gharb Darfur (West Darfur), Janub Darfur (South Darfur), and Shamal Darfur (North Darfur). It is currently in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian crisis originating from the conflict between Janjaweed militias and rebel groups (namely the Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement)

Geography and climate

The country of Sudan

Darfur covers an area of some 493 180 km² (196,555 miles²)—just over 90% the size of France and more than half the size of Kenya. It is largely an arid plateau with the Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra), a range of volcanic peaks rising up to 3000 m (10,100 ft), in the center of the region. The region's main towns are Al Fashir, Nyala, and Geneina

There are 4 main features of the physical geography. The whole eastern half of Darfur is covered with plains and low hills of sandy soils, known as goz, and sandstone hills. In many places the goz is waterless and can only be inhabited where there are water reservoirs or deep boreholes. While dry, goz may also support rich pasture and arable land. To the north the goz is overtaken by the desert sands of the Sahara. A second feature are the wadis, which range from seasonal watercourses that flood only occasionally during the wet season to large wadis that flood for most of the rains and flow from western Darfur hundreds of miles west to Lake Chad. Many wadis have pans of alluvium with rich soil that are also difficult to cultivate. Western Darfur is dominated by the third feature, basement rock, sometimes covered with a thin layer of sandy soil. Basement rock is too infertile to be farmed, but provides sporadic forest cover that can be grazed by animals. The fourth and final feature are the Marrah Mountains, volcanic plugs created by a massif, that rise up to a peak at Deriba crater where there is a small area of temperate climate, high rainfall and permanent springs of water.

The rainy season is from June through September, transforming much of the region from dusty brown to verdant green. As much of the population of Darfur is agricultural, the rains are vital. In normal years, pearl millet, a mainstay crop is ready to be harvested by November. Once harvested, the dry stalks may be fed to domestic livestock. In the far northern desert, years may pass between rainfall. In the far south, annual average rainfall is 700 mm and many trees remain green year-round.

History

Main article: History of Darfur

The early history of Darfur is dominated by the influence of the Marrah Mountains. Most of the region is semi-arid plain and cannot support a large and complex civilization, while the Marrah Mountains offer plentiful water. The Daju people created the first known Darfurian civilization based in the mountains, though they left no records besides a list of kings. The Tunjur displaced the Daju in the fourteenth century and introduced Islam. The Tunjur sultans intermarried with the Fur and sultan M. Solaiman (reigned c.1596 to c.1637) is considered the founder of the Keira dynasty. Darfur became a great power of the Sahel under the Keira dynasty, expanding its borders as far east as the Atbarah River and attracting immigrants from Bornu and Bagirmi. During the mid-18th century the country was wracked by conflict between rival factions, and external war with Sennar and Wadai. In 1875, the weakened kingdom was destroyed by the Egyptian government (itself under British colonization) set up in Khartoum, largely through the machinations of al-Zubayr Rahma, a businessman who was competing with the dar over access to slaves and ivory in Bahr el Ghazal to the south of Darfur.

The Darfurians were restive under Egyptian rule, but were no more predisposed to accept the rule of the self proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, when his forces defeated the British in Darfur in 1883. When Ahmad's successor, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, himself a Darfuri, demanded that the pastoralist tribes provide soldiers, several tribes rose up in revolt. Following the overthrow of Abdallahi at Omdurman in 1898 by a British force, the new Anglo-Egyptian government recognized Ali Dinar as the sultan of Darfur and largely left the dar to its own affairs except for a nominal annual tribute. During the First World War, the British became concerned that the sultanate might fall under the influence of Turkey, invaded and incorporated Darfur into Sudan in 1916. Under colonial rule, financial and administrative resources were directed to the tribes of central Sudan near Khartoum to the detriment of the outlying regions such as Darfur.

This pattern of skewed development continued following national independence in 1956. To this was added an element of political instability caused by the proxy wars between Sudan, Libya and Chad. The influence of an ideology of Arab supremacy propagated by Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi that began to be acted upon by Darfurians, including those identified as "Arab" and "African". A famine in the mid-1980s disrupted many societal structures and led to the first significant fighting amongst Darfuris. A low level conflict continued for the next 15 years, with the government coopting and arming "Arab" militias against its enemies. The fighting reached a peak in 2003 with the beginning of the Darfur conflict, in which the resistance coalesced into a roughly cohesive rebel movement. The conflict soon came to be regarded as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Darfur Conflict

Main article: Darfur conflict

The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Janjaweed militia group and the mostly land-tilling tribes of the region.This is a controversial conflict as the media portrays the conflict to be between Muslims and non-Muslims. Although this specific conflict in Darfur has occurred already in 2003, the mentality behind the conflict stems from the 1960s and 1970s. The ideology of Arab supremacism grew in northern Africa. In the countries of North Africa, as well as many Arab nations, a secret group called “Tajamu al Arabi”, or the Arab Gathering, formed and would emerge in the Darfur region in the 1980s. The Sudanese government became involved in the 1990s, funding militia groups who were carrying out the attacks. It was not until early 2003 that the Non-Arab Africans began to combine their forces to protect themselves against the militia groups. Two of the main groups—the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement—combined to create the National Redemption Front. The Sudanese government, however, saw this uprising of Non-Arab Africans as a threat against the nation of Sudan and, thus began funding a group known as the Janjaweed to quell the rebellion of the National Redemption Front. However, due to the prospects of peace, a fraction of the Sudanese Liberation Army broke away from the National Redemption Front in order to come to a peace agreement with the Sudanese government—this prospect of peace would turn out to be an empty promise from the Sudanese government. An analysis in late 2006 concluded that "It is likely that the number of deaths for this conflict in Greater Darfur is higher than 200,000 individuals, and it is possible that the death toll is much higher." The conflict began in February 2003, when rebel groups began attacking government targets. The government retaliated by launching a military and police campaign. The government has been accused of encouraging a group of Arab nomads called the Janjaweed to rape, murder and loot the African farmers. Because of this, more than 3,500,000 people have fled their homes. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, in Darfur most of the residents are Muslim, as are the Janjaweed.

Attempts at mediation by the African Union led to a peace accord between the Sudanese government and the largest rebel group in the Darfur region, signed May 5, 2006, but the United Nations says that there has actually been a dramatic increase in violence and displacement since the deal was signed .

Those who fled the Janjaweed now live in refugee camps across Darfur, as well as in neighboring Chad. About 2.5 million refugees have crossed the border into neighboring Chad.

Many Darfurian children, even in the refugee camps, are malnourished and starving to death. Aid workers and U.N. representatives in Darfur have been denied access to some of the camps. The Sudanese government has opposed the introduction of United Nations forces in Sudan, but conceded to a small UN delegation of 3000 in April 2007.

The United Nations has threatened military intervention, but the Sudanese government argues that it is caught in a continuing civil war and that no outside powers should seek to meddle in its internal affairs.

In January 2007, President Omar al-Bashir agreed to a cease-fire whereby the Sudanese "government and rebel groups will cease hostilities for a period of 60 days while they work towards a lasting peace" , however, according to the Save Darfur Coalition, this cease-fire was broken weeks later when military aircraft bombed civilians in Darfur.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for the State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmed Haroun, and alleged Janjaweed militia leader Ali Mohammed Ali aka Ali Kosheib, in relation to the atrocities in the region. Ahmed Haroun belongs to the Fur tribe one of the non Arab tribes of Darfur and is alleged to have incited attacks on specific ethnic groups. Ali Kosheib is an ex soldier and a leader of the popular defense forces and is assumed to be one of the key leaders responsible for attacks on villages in West Darfur.

On May 29, 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush imposed economic sanctions against the Sudanese government.

See also: International response to the Darfur conflict

See also

• Darfur conflict
• History of Darfur
• Sudan
• Genocide

External links

• Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting "Our Choice, Too: On the Edge in Darfur" (Video)
• Red Cross Darfur Update from Red Cross
• African Holocaust Darfur Report
• [1]

Holocaust Museum Calls Crisis in Sudan 'Genocide Emergency'

• "Darfur Without Delay" (with video) about AmeriCares efforts in Darfur
• Safer Access - Template:PDFlink
• Google Earth Partnership with USHMM
• Sudan Photographic Exhibition - Documentary photographer's images of Sudan's displaced
• Eyes On Darfur watch up-to-date satellite images of Darfur to monitor the destruction for yourself
• 24hoursfordarfur.org -- A unique video-based advocacy and education campaign to raise awareness about the conflict in Darfur and pressure elected officials to take action.

Notes and references

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