The Global Day for Darfur

September 17 was the Global Day for Darfur coordinated by major human rights organizations across the world to pressure the government of Sudan to accept UN troops within their borders. Cairo was one of several cities that hosted the Day for Darfur, which took place at the American University in Cairo, hosted by Student Action for Refugees (STAR). Sudanese music, dance, food, crafts, and a film festival on the Darfur issue marked the occasion. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Research summarizes their reasons for participating in the Day for Darfur here (English version).

It was wonderful to see the mingling of Sudanese and other residents and students who came together to celebrate these shared concerns. I thought of taking pictures but recognize that this is a politically sensitive issue in Egypt and that many people may not have been comfortable with their photo being taken. The internet is full of commentary on Darfur, but I'll just write a little blurb here on the major issues as I understand them.

Currently, various rebel groups based in Darfur fight with the Janjaweed militia, who are paid by the government to destroy villages and assisted in their operations by the government's air force and police. Some rebel groups in Darfur have signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government but this has intensified the fighting of other rebel groups with the government. The African Union recently extended the mandate of its 7,000 peacekeeping troops until the end of 2006. But this is not an adequately provisioned or mandated force to effectively deter fighting in a region the size of France.

Though the atrocities in Darfur have been reported by human rights NGOs and many media outlets for years, the adequate political will necessary for finding a workable end to violence and dispossession of land has not been found. The violence stems from political and economic marginalization of the Fur and other ethnic groups in western Sudan, a separate decades-long civil war between the government and rebels in the south, and the government's expanding interest in land for oil exploration. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the conflict, with millions internally displaced and others becoming refugees in Chad and other neighboring states. Rape, property destruction, poisoning of wells, and theft of livestock are widely established allegations as to the government's tactics in addition to murder. As many refugee camps are unreachable by humanitarian groups after the recent increase in fighting, malnutrition and starvation have become more likely among camp residents. See what Doctors Without Borders has to say about their decreasing access to Darfur camps here.

The recently-passed UN Resolution 1706 would add peacekeepers to the UN's current humanitarian role in Darfur. Unfortunately, this resolution hinges on the consent of the Sudanese government, which has not been granted.