Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Darfur Now?

So many by now have heard the word "Darfur" but have little idea what has gone on in that region of Sudan over the past several years. As I reflect on the Holocaust, and as I try to hope that we have seen our last genocide, I am troubled the fact that not only have we seen questionable or deliberate acts of genocide since the Holocaust, but we've seen it several times (Cambodia 1975-1979, East Timor 1973-1982, Iraq 1988, Burundi 1993-2000, Rwanda 1994, Bosnia 1994, Chechnya 1999-?, Sudan 2003-?). The atrocities that have taken place in the Darfur region of Sudan are incredibly troubling. The BBC, as always, has excellent coverage of the Sudan situation that you can read about in their Special Report by clicking here. They also have an excellent question and answer page on the topic that you can read by clicking here. Remember folks, ignorance is not bliss, but knowledge is indeed empowering.

10 comments:

michelledemaris said...

I have done lots of research about Darfur and many presentations on it. You said that there needs to be a resolution and way to stop this. But i have no idea how we could. What is your suggestion?

Anonymous said...

The picture shows several icons representing camps that contain over 50,000 people. This is sick that situations such as this one are still in existence in the world in 2009. People are still being packed into these camps by the thousands, just as we we have been doing for hundreds of years. I just don't understand why there have been no attempts of intervention to try and put an end to this issue.

Monica Enlow said...

i am so troubled by stuff like this. i don't get why people think this way... or why people get it in their heads that they're perfect. no one is perfect.

in the model united nations at my last school, i was burkina faso, and the girl who was sudan did some fabulous research. and when we were in the meeting and voting on issues. she said she could not support the u.s. at all. hmm... it couldn't be because the u.s. is so ignorant to the situations there or anything along those lines. it was interesting to hear about tensions the sudan had with western countries.

if you want an opinion on what should be done, i would suggest that the u.n. or another organization try to stop, not aid, the people. sovereignty is such a big concern, personally i wish that the international criminal court would look past that when it comes to international conflicts involving the killing of thousands and the displacement of millions of refugees.

Anonymous said...

i cant believe that people still think that they are better than one race or religion, and that in the map it shows there were 2.4 million internally displaced people. i also saw the movie, "Hotel Rwanda" and it was a horrible was between two different beliefs or something like that and it was horrible to see all of the people that have died.

Anonymous said...

I cant believe something like this is still going in the world..i mean..dont they learn? how could they think of persecuting another religiomn after what happened to the victims of hitler in the war. They say that Darfur is not going to be punished..why!!?!!how could other governments let that happen.

Akshay Gopalakrishnan said...

Man i can't believe that people still think that they are superior than others, and that they think that they can take over other people and kill them...I'm wondering when all of this will stop, and when people realize that it is wrong.

Andi Braemer said...

the fact that stuff like this continues today disguists me. i dont believe people learn their lessons with anything, but this is a severe enough issue that you think people would atleast think twice about and not do it.
the number of deaths alone is shocking. it shows that we are capable of reaching high numbers of deaths to basically prove a point.

even though there are peace treaties being signed, i personally feel like they wont stop further problems.

Anonymous said...

On the Q&A page, it said that Bashir probably won't be arrested because the Sudan government most likely won't bother to put a warrant into effect and actually arrest him. I don't understand why not! Tehcnically, it hasn't been voted genocide, but that's basically what it is, and why would any government let this continue in their country? At least most other countries are perfectly willing to arrest him if he enters their borders.

Ji Young Chung said...

Its shocking how mamy people did not even know that there was such thing still going on- including me. My question is not "How can people still do this", but why are human beings so negligent and so ignorant. Now we seem to ignore issues around the world unless it is DIRECTLY affecting ME ME ME US US US. Think about it. Sorry for going off tangent but if United States was not dirently involved in the economic crisis, would we worry? care?
Like the slavery issue that we just noticed, we are seeing the same problem happening again and agian- total ignorance. We as students can't do much about it right now, but soon it will be our time to fix these kind of global issues. I think global issues can't be exterminated; however, i really truely hope that it will lessen due to our work, our dedication, and our morality unlike some bad adults we see on the news. There are so many responsibilities on our shoulders and i hope that we realize that we are not going to be kids for much longer. Global issues are called global issues because its global:everyone- not, if its not us then who really cares-issues.

MCDA said...

To point somthing out on Akshay's post.. there are always going to be those jerks who think they are more superior than others. I dont agree with any of this, any of the killings in armenia, germany, poland, rwanda, and any other country or location. I think the most that could even be thought of as acceptable is a respectable dislike for certain peoples. All you have to do is stay away from the ones that you arent necessarily fond of, and let your lives be your lives. What were they doing wrong? Getting in the way? No. Every human being deserves a chance to life an equal life as the man next to him. But as for the Darfur crisis, i think that the Jem group should start taking action. If the governement wont, or cant for whatever reason, then the Jem should step up and defend Sudan and its people.