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DARFUR
In 2003 and 2004 militia, known as the Janjawid / Janjaweed, attacked
civilians in the western region of Sudan. Throughout 2004 and 2005,
newspapers across the globe were awash with parallels between the Darfur
crisis and the Rwandan genocide of 1994 after UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan highlighted the similarities. For all the wrong reasons, Sudan again
made it to the top of the global agenda.
The violence against civilians in Darfur continued into 2006 and left the
area at severe risk of famine. UN reports suggest that 400,000 people have
died, 2.5 million people have been displaced, and a further 3.5 million face
food shortages.
The links below direct you to reviewed websites that detail the events in Darfur
over the last few years.
Who are the Darfurians? by Alex de Waal (webpage)
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This essay, by respected Sudan commentator Alex de Waal, is "an attempt to explain the processes of identity formation that have taken place in Darfur over the last four centuries. The basic story is of four overlapping processes of identity formation, each of them primarily associated with a different period in the region's history." The essay provides an in depth analysis of the complexities of the history and politics behind the Darfur conflict, and warns that applying the term 'genocide' to the present episode of violence may, in fact, work against its resolution. |
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