3.7.1: case study – the Darfur genocide

the Darfur genocide (Sudan)

  • Sudan is very diverse   * main ethnic groups are Arab, African, and Indigenous peoples   * main religious groups are Sunni (Islam), Indigenous religious beliefs, and Christianity
  • faces great difficulty with political cooperation   * many conflicts over ethnicity, religion   * CPA (2005) ends civil war, unrest remains   * many refugees leaving Sudan
  • civil war has led to   * lack of economic and political development   * heavy internal displacement   * huge refugee crisis
  • the Darfur region is located in Western Sudan, occupied primarily by marginalized communities   * majority in the area are ethnic muslims   * African and Arab communities are often at conflict with each other     * different religions and ways of life; Africans are generally farmers where as Arabs are generally herders   * intermarriage between ethnic groups makes it harder to distinguish members of one from another     * based on ancestry, so most identity through appearance or political ideology   * notion exists that Arabs are “superior” or more advanced, which creates many conflicts on the local level
  • roots of recent conflict   * competition over dwindling natural resources   * erosion of traditional tribal leadership structures (political turmoil)   * Arab resentment of land-owning African communities   * emergence of armed Darfurian rebel groups   * flood of arms and weapons into the Darfur region from other countries with (primarily economic) interests in the area
  • Sudanese government moved to act due to   * mounting rebel attacks   * long-term sentiment against Darfur based on its large non-Arab population   * desire to control oil reserves in Darfur   * local food sources and the economy declined following the Northern Darfurian drought in the 1980’s     * Arabs and Africans competed for land, food, and water control     * this led Arabs to join the Janjaweed in the 1990’s when it focused on small-scale local raids
  • Darfur genocide   * the mass training of the Sudanese government of Arabs to wipe out non-Arab inhabitants of the Darfur region   * took place from 2003-present   * Janjaweed raid villages, beginning with bombings before soldiers are moved in   * slavery, rape, and looting are also commonly used   * bodies are thrown in local water sources to contaminate them for survivors and villages are burned   * the US and UN have tried to prevent it, but to little avail thus far     * in the UN’s efforts to help, many UN workers have been killed/attacked     * disarming the Janjaweed is necessary for peace, but it is unclear how this could be accomplished   * China and Russia have sided with the Sudanese government, mainly for economic reasons (coal = $); roughly 5,000 people are killed every month in the conflict (as of 2020)     * China’s president has spent millions in aiding Sudan     * Sudan also regularly steals or ignores the UN’s policies after initially agreeing to them

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