Sudan

Photographer : Wikicommons

What’s the issue?

Over the past few years you might have seen and heard a lot of people getting very angry about what’s going on in Darfur. Here's what they are complaining about - since February 2003, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people have lost their lives in Darfur as a result of ordered and ongoing human rights abuses.

Darfur is a region in the far west of Sudan, bordering Chad. In 2003 two local groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), began a bloody rebellion against the government for oppressing non-Arabs in favour of Arabs. It was believed that the government supported Janjawid, an Arab militia group accused of committing major human rights violations such as mass killings, lootings and systematic rapes.

A humanitarian crisis

• In April 2008, UN officials estimated that the death toll in Darfur had reached over 300,000 over five years of conflict (including deaths caused by hunger, disease and violence)
• Over 2.7 million civilians have been displaced by the conflict
• More than 300,000 have sought refuge in the neighbouring state of Chad
• The total number of people affected by conflict and in need of aid is estimated to be over 4.2 million (U.N. report, May 2007)
• There are 12,300 humanitarians on the ground in Sudan, both national and international (U.N. report, May 2007)

Reports state that food, water and medicines are limited and sanitary conditions are extremely poor. Refugees are living in overcrowded camps and are the continued targets of Janjawid, the government backed militia, in both Darfur and Eastern Chad.

A violent history

Sudan has had a long and chaotic history of civil war and unrest, going back as early as the 1950’s. In 1955, a year before independence from British occupation, the first Sudanese civil war broke out between northern and southern Sudan. Those in the south were waiting hopefully for independence and feared that they could potentially become dominated by the north.

Historically, the north of Sudan was predominantly Arab and Muslim while the Africans in the south followed a mixture of Christianity and Animism. These divisions had been further emphasised by the British policy of ruling the north and south under separate administrations.

The first Sudanese civil war began in 1955 and ended in 1972 with the ‘Addis Ababa’ Agreement, which granted autonomy to Southern Sudan. However, in 1983 the civil war was reignited when the then resident Gaafar Nimeiri broke the agreement by federating the country under a single Islamic legal framework.

What’s being done?

Until recently, Sudan resisted strong Western diplomatic pressure for the United Nations (UN) to take control of the peacekeeping mission. But now the UN has committed 26,000 peacekeeping personnel to the region in an operation called UNAMID. This project will be a combined effort with the African Union (AU). In October 2008, UNAMID consisted of over 10,000 personnel – both armed troops and logistical staff. Full deployment is not expected until late 2009.

Unfortunately, the task of ‘peacekeeping’ is easier said than done. Many civilians have complained that despite the increased UN presence there are not enough supplies available to meet demands. Some civilians believe that the UN troops just as scared of the militia groups. Various political and humanitarian groups argue that peacekeepers can’t do much unless there is a peace to keep. Fighting can only end through a deal agreed by all sides, and while peace agreements have technically been made in the past – there is not much action happening to back them up.

In June 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged nine defence logistics experts and an additional $5 million to the Darfur humanitarian crisis.. However, the deployment of these troops has been delayed until the area is less dangerous. Australia already has 15 troops in the south of Sudan.

The Australian government's international aid agency AusAID, has pledged around $87 million to Sudan and its neighbouring countries since 2004. This included contributing AUD$2 million to the Australian Red Cross to maintain its ongoing response to the crisis in Sudan. The Red Cross is currently the only humanitarian organisation with international staff still in service in Darfur after increasing violence in late 2006 saw other aid agencies withdraw their staff from the area.

Obstacles to peace

The Sudanese government has made it difficult for humanitarian aid agencies to continue to help victims of the conflict. Aid providers such as the Red Cross and MSF have been given invalid visa restrictions and are limited with what materials they can use to administer aid.

Aid organisations face a huge challenge in attempting to function in the insecurity in Darfur. In the first eight months of 2008, 155 aid workers were abducted and 123 aid camps were broken into. Two major NGOs pulled out of the region – leaving 500,000 civilians without aid.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) took the first step in June 2005 by launching investigations into human rights violations in Darfur. However, the government of Sudan refuses to cooperate.

After strong international pressure and the threat of sanctions, the government promised to disarm the Janjawid in May 2006. But so far there is little evidence this has happened. The Janjawid still patrol outside civilian camps and it has been claimed that they have killed men and raped women who venture too far in search of firewood or water.

The crisis continues

In July 2007, many parts of southern Sudan and some parts of Darfur were devastated by severe flooding. Almost one million people were directly affected, with over 750,000 left homeless and over 3.5 million at risk of epidemics. The UN has allocated US$ 13.5 million for the response, but will launch an appeal to the international community to cover the gap.

In its report The State of the Worlds Human Rights, 2007, Amnesty International calls on the Sudanese government to defuse the power held by the Janjawid and for the UN and the African Union to ensure that an effective disarmament, demobilisation and a reintegration program is put in to place for all armed groups operational in Darfur. Amnesty also called on the Sudanese government to allow unrestricted access to Sudan for humanitarian and human rights organisations.

Situation reports

The UN provides on the situation in Darfur times a week. These reports include information on key developments, political/civil affairs and humanitarian issues.

To read the reports vis it the United Nations Sudan Information Gateway

This page was updated by kate elise

How do I know this?

Amnesty International http://web.amnesty.org/pages/sdn-index-eng  

Amnesty International Report 2007, The State of the World’s human rights http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Africa/Sudan  

‘Australia Provides More Assistance for Darfur’, AusAID Media Release, 15 July 2007 www.ausaid.gov.au  

Civil war in Sudan, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Sudanese_Civil_War  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sudanese_Civil_War  

‘Darfur death toll could be as high as 300,000’, CBC News, 22 April 2008 www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/22/darfur-un.html  

Darfur Humanitarian Profile http://www.unsudanig.org/docs/Darfur%20Humanitarian%20Profile%20Narrative%20April%202004.pdf  

The Darfur Project www.thedarfurproject.org  

‘Diggers to join UN mission in Darfur’, The Australian, 9 June 2008 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23832853-31477,00.html  

The International Rescue Committee, Darfur: Growing Violence http://www.theirc.org/media/www/darfur_hope_amid_the_violence.html  

‘Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre’ www.internal-displacement.org/countries/sudan  

‘New UN peacekeeping chief on first official visit’, UN News Service, 8 October 2008 www.globalsecurity.org  

‘New UN Report on Situation in Darfur’, 24 October 2008 www.standnow.org  

‘Sudan Floods: At least 365,000 Directly Affected Response Ongoing’, UN Press Release, 6 August 2007 http://ochaonline.un.org/News/OCHANewsCentre/2008PressReleases  

Reuters Foundation AlertNet, Alerting Humanitarians to Emergencies http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/SD_DAR.htm?v=at_a_glance  

Science journal http://www.sciencemag.org/  

The United Nations Sudan Information Gateway: serving the information needs of the humanitarian community in Sudan http://www.unsudanig.org/