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The Darfur Conflict: Four Years On
Trocaire
February 28, 2007The 23rd of February 2007 marks four years of brutal conflict between the Government of Sudan and rebel groups in the western region of Darfur. Throughout this time hundreds of thousands of people have died, with estimates of the mortality rate ranging from 200,000 to 400,000. The violence has displaced over 2.5 million people from their homes. Those who have survived attacks on their villages have often sought refuge in the sprawling IDP camps that have multiplied in Darfur, or alternatively have tried to find shelter across the border in refugee camps in eastern Chad, also plagued by 'spillover' violence from Darfur.
Worsening Insecurity
Ongoing insecurity makes life for the people of Darfur extremely challenging with over 4 million out of a population of 7 million now affected by the conflict. Yet as needs rise in the context of such alarming insecurity, the ability of humanitarian agencies to meet these needs is also threatened. The targeting and killing of humanitarian workers and the hijacking of humanitarian vehicles and supplies have recently prompted several relief agencies to suspend operations and relocate staff away from the most insecure areas of Darfur, or to withdraw from Darfur altogether.
World's worst humanitarian crisis
The severity and longevity of the emergency in Darfur has earned it the unfortunate title of the 'world's worst humanitarian crisis,' and whilst there has been an extensive humanitarian response to the crisis, the political issues which generated the conflict remain largely unresolved. The conflict has its roots in the competition for useable land and water resources, in a region where our changing climate means more frequent droughts and worsening desertification. Within Darfur, the complex mix of Arab and non-Arab groups, who are all Muslim, had successfully managed their competing interests for many years using traditional mechanisms. However, increased pressure on resources, perceptions that the Government of Sudan had been favouring Arab tribes in recent years, along with charges that Darfur was marginalized by government elites in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, combined to precipitate the events of February 2003.
Non-Arab groups launched an armed uprising, seeking greater autonomy and a share of state resources. The central government in Khartoum responded by mobilizing impoverished Arab militias in Darfur as auxiliaries in a counter-insurgency campaign of terrifying violence. As the conflict intensified reports of grave human rights abuses emerged. In 2005 militias known locally as janjaweed, and Sudanese Government forces were found responsible by a UN Commission of Inquiry of committing crimes against humanity in Darfur, systematically targeting civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and forced expulsions.
Whilst the conflict in Darfur has increasingly assumed an ethnic dimension and is often characterized as a conflict between Arabs and non-Arabs or 'African' groups, commentators have noted that care should be taken with such ascriptions as they can have the effect of polarising communities even further by perpetuating the assumption that all Arab communities are sympathetic to the pro-government militias, which is not the case. The Arab / Non-Arab dichotomy does not capture Darfur's ethnic diversity and complexity and also detracts focus from the centre- periphery nature of the conflict in Darfur.
Ineffective International Community
Although there have been various attempts by the international community to help find a solution to the Darfur crisis, the fact that the conflict continues to rage four years on is testament to the sad reality that these efforts have been largely ineffective. Many had hoped that the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) signed in May 2006 between the Government of Sudan and one of the rebel factions would provide the basis for a lasting peace, but the peace process suffered from what has since been deemed 'deadline diplomacy,' and failed to fully address the concerns of non-signatory rebel groups. Violence in Darfur has in fact intensified since the peace agreement was signed. To ensure that four years of tragedy in Darfur come to an end the international community must take decisive action.
Given the worsening violence and reports to the UN Security Council last year that the DPA was 'nearly dead' and had failed to resonate with the people of Darfur, the need for a comprehensive and inclusive peace process in Darfur is now greater than ever. A variety of initiatives seeking to address the reservations of non-signatories to the DPA and bring them back to the negotiating table have been underway in recent months. It is crucial that the AU, UN, and international community streamline the proliferation of initiatives aimed at non-signatories to the DPA and support a single coordinated and inclusive peace process that addresses the root causes of the conflict.
Due to the rapidly deteriorating security situation much international diplomacy in the latter half of 2006 focused on the need to secure deployment of a robust UN peacekeeping force to replace the AU peacekeepers who have been serving in Darfur since August 2004, but whose numbers have been too small and mandate too weak to effectively provide protection to the millions of Darfuri civilians who so desperately need it.
Following the Government of Sudan's rejection of a UN force authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1706 in August 2006, a compromise AU-UN 'hybrid' force was proposed, but the Sudanese government are stalling this process and now saying they will only accept UN logistical and financial support to an AU force. The international community including the members of the AU, the Arab league and China must use their influence to convince Sudan to consent to the deployment of a well-resourced AU-UN 'hybrid' peacekeeping force, and insist that this force be endowed with a strong mandate for the protection of civilians in Darfur.
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