Darfur explaining and Issue Essay

English 1001 Section 021
November 8, 2007

Darfur
Past, Present, and Future  

As the year 2008 comes it will mark the fifth year of conflict in Darfur. Since it began in February 2003 about 200,000 people have been killed by the Arab militia also known as the Janjaweed (Abramowitz, 2007). The conflict between the Khartoum government and Darfur rebel groups has also caused more than 2 million displaced Darfurians, including hundreds of thousands in refugee camps, all unable to return home. The extent of the problem in Darfur has increased significantly over the years. For example in May 2006 only a few pockets of orange and yellow danger zones existed in Darfur. However as of June 2007 the danger zones are everywhere (Gettleman, “Chaos”, 2007). Through the years of the conflict many actions have been taken to put an end to the fighting like those of the United Nations, however they have yet to be completely successful. Many hoping that the current United Nations mission in Darfur, UNAMID, will succeed. However there are many factors involved included those responsible for the conflict and the victims, those trying to end it, specifically the United Nations, and what that entails.
The Janjaweed is not only responsible for the mass genocide in the western region of Sudan but also for the raping of women, burning villages, and executing African villagers according to numerous human rights reports (Abramowitz, 2007). The fighting first began between the Khartoum government and the rebel forces, or more specifically Khartoum government backed Arab tribes against non-Arab tribes (Gettleman, “Chaos”, 2007). In the past the main target of the militias were the Black Muslim Africans. Currently the fighting in Darfur has become a “free for all” Arab versus Arab, rebel versus rebel, bandit versus bandit”, according to the article “Peacekeepers Without a Peace to Keep” by Jeffrey Gettleman. The Arab tribes fighting against one another is killing hundreds and displacing...