Conflict in Darfur, Sudan
In light of all that’s going on in the Middle East, Darfur has been left to fend for itself and has yet to receive the proper amount of attention. One of these days it will explode into a matter out of a government or military’s hands and the world will wonder how it happened. Darfur is a region located in western Sudan, Africa. Currently, there is extreme tension between the Sudanese military who supports the Janjaweed militia, and rebel groups such as the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. This conflict undoubtedly does not receive the proper amount of media attention, understanding, or support and aid.
This conflict began to show its true colors as a major conflict in March of 2003 when the Muslim militants of the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Eqaulity Movement began to attack government areas in western Sudan. Most of the people involved in this conflict are Muslim. The Sudanese government supports the Janjaweed, a military group, whose name roughly translated means, "devil on horseback". Members of this merciless group commit ghastly crimes of rape, murder, displacement, and they practice the scorched earth policy. On top of all that, the Darfur region is suffering from drought, desertification, and overpopulation.
Every headline in the media is related to Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan. Most of this could be due to the fact that in the process of supporting the Janjaweed, information about the conflict has been kept to a minimum. In order to keep information from the international media, the Sudanese government has jailed and killed witnesses to these crimes since 2004. Analyst suggest that not much media attention is received due to the fact that in proportion to other things going on internationally at the time, Darfur, an area of Africa the size of Texas, did not hail in comparison. The humanitarian crisis aspect of the conflict drew in media coverage. Other analysts argue that it is just the nature of the media to briefly focus on one thing before moving on to the next. The United States with many other countries has labeled this conflict as genocide. The conflict in Darfur has been compared to the Holocaust and the 1980’s killings of Iraqi Kurds under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Michael de Guzman, high schooler wrote to the Chicago Sun-Times, "…honestly speaking, that major news networks can broadcast 55 times as many stories on the single trial of Michael Jackson as on the Darfur crisis. Now, should we re-evaluate our focus?"
With a delay in media attention received about the Darfur area, there was also a massive delay in relief efforts. A statement from the Press Office of USAID, printed in the Sudan Tribune, stated that, "The United States reaffirms it’s commitment to addressing the immediate protection and assistance needs of the those in Darfur, as well as throughout Sudan, including humanitarian cross border operations if assistance cannot be provided through Sudan." It is remarkable how the United States could say such a thing, being that our government and military are still highly involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. It just goes to prove that the United States of America prides itself in taking care of the world and disgraces other countries that fail to realize the severity of the issue at hand. Those that are not supportive argue that they would rather look the other way and not recognize the crisis in Darfur as "ethnic cleansing" or genocide. These countries do not want to jeopardize their people or resources when Sudan is clearly breaching all rules and regulations regarding international humanitarian laws. Another justification for not helping in the Darfur area is that the Sudanese government has been taking from the relief issues and giving it to the Janjaweed, and it is hard to provide peacekeeping in the area because of the government’s lack of cooperation.
Attention should be drawn to the ambiguity of the information the media is supplying. Also, it is said that hindsight is twenty-twenty and the international community has experienced its fair share of genocide. Yet it is remarkable how the international community has failed to do its part in response to the conflict in Darfur. It is amazing how analyst support this injustice by saying that on a scale of proportions, this conflict does not hail in comparison to the other issues that the international community is involved in. As eye opening, as it should be, apparently the thousands of deaths in the Darfur area, does not pull much sympathy out of members of the international community.
