The Darfur Crisis. animosity between southern and northern Sudan is deeply rooted in the past for thousands of years the South was raided for slaves.

The Darfur CrisisThe Darfur Crisis

animosity between southern and northern Sudan is deeply rooted in the past

for thousands of years the South was raided for slaves

Islam is the religion of the north, Christianity and animism of the south

Islam did not spread to the south until the late 19th century

Egypt (backed by the UK) subdued that part of the country and Sudan became a

joint protectorate of Egypt and the UK until 1955, the year of independence

in 1983, the Muslim dominated government decided to impose sharia on the Sudan,

including the Christian and animistic south

as a result there were two civil wars in Sudan at some point:

between Muslim-Arab dominated regime in Khartoum and black, non-Muslim

rebels in the south (oil found complicates the matter). South Sudan gains independence from Sudan in 2011.

between black Africans in Darfur and the Arab dominated regime in Khartoum,

although both groups are nominally speaking Muslim

Background to the Darfur Crisis:

The Janjaweed Militia

Key Players in the Darfur Crisis since 2003: Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) emerged in opposition to the regime in Khartoum

instead of seeking a peaceful solution, the government chose to resolve the conflict by force

in July 2004 the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) starts monitoring the conflict, but is under-equipped with 7,000 and has no mandate to provide security

in 2006 a Darfur Peace Agreement was signed between the government and groups in Darfur. However, the government in Khartoum refuses to let in a peacekeeping force of 17,300 based on a UN Security Council resolution

in 2007, the UN Security Council passed another resolution to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers under a UN-African Union hybrid mission (UNAMID).

in 2007 the International Criminal Court indicted two Sudanese men (Ahmed Haroun, who was the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed militia leader) for crimes against humanity. Both men remain free.

violence and insecurity persist throughout the region and has spread into Chad

Dimensions of the Darfur Crisis since 2003

the humanitarian crisis is one of the worst on the African continent

at least 300,000 men, women and children have been killed

2.6 million people have been displaced and often live in camps for refugees (IDPs)

an unknown number of women and girls have been abducted, raped and abused

a generation of children has reached school-age not knowing a home

in addition to the violence, there is widespread malnourishment, compacted by a sharp and sudden rise in global food prices (why are prices for food rising)?

to this day, violence and humanitarian crisis persists, and UNAMID has not even been fully deployed yet and lacks both mandate and capacity to provide security

complicating factor oil / China as 1 of 5 permanent members of UN Security Council

the Darfur Crisis is still going on today (2014)