Darfur and Sudan..

Right, know this isn’t really the typical blog entry, but think at same time is important to highlight.. as the conflict in Darfur and Sudan is growing increasingly worrying.. The latest reports have seen the state of Chad cut ties with Sudan (Darfur lies between Chad and Sudan), wherein grave conflict and fighting is taking place..

• The Chadian rebels (many of them ex-army) have set up camps across the border in lawless/waar-ridden Darfur.
• Chad’s President says Sudan’s government backs the rebellion.
• Sudan denies the accusation and, in turn, says Chad supports Sudanese rebel groups in Darfur.
• In October, hundreds of discontented Chadian soldiers deserted their barracks and fled to Darfur.
• The rebels accuse Chad’s President Deby of running a dictatorship, exploiting the countries oil riches

So, what can be done.. stopping the violence in Darfur would help! Cos in essence it is this violence that is spilling across the border..

In brief the trouble in Darfur origninated three years ago when Africian tribal groups took up arms against the government in Darfur. The Sudanese government responded by arming thousands of militias, who wreaked havoc on African soldiers and villagers alike, killed tens of thousands of people and forced 2 million from their homes.

The US government have described it as genocide, but for the past two years the world has been content to let a 7,000-strong force from the African union police what the United Nations describes as one of the two worst humanitarian disasters in the world today!!! (The other being the Congo) The UN says it may send a peacekeeping force to Sudan, but troops are unlikely to arrive before the end of this year (and to add more trouble, Khartoum says it will refuse to allow them in!)

And so the fighting and killing continues - and spreads. In years to come will this be another Rwanda, or Bosnia?