Darfur Crisis

The violence in the Darfur region of Sudan continues to grow. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports that increased violence has forced 230,000 people to flee their homes over the last year.

Since early February, the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan has dramatically escalated, resembling levels of five years ago when the conflict began. The government has undertaken coordinated attacks to reclaim ground taken by rebel groups, notably Justice and Equality Movement.

The African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur, known by its acronym UNAMID, took over peacekeeping operations on December 31 as scheduled, but the force remains critically under-strength, according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Although 20,000 troops and 6,000 police have been pledged for the joint UN-African Union force, only 9,000 uniformed personnel, including 7,000 troops and 1,200 police, are currently on the ground.

Although greatly anticipated United Nations/African Union-brokered talks on Darfur did open on October 27 in Sirte, Libya, they were quickly postponed until December. United Nations and African Union mediators are now hoping to persuade the rebels to restart peace talks in early December, but experts are not optimistic. To further complicate the situation, the original three rebel factions have split into more than a dozen different interests, causing even greater instability for residents.

In the past, farmers in western Sudan anticipated the arrival of the rainy season as the start of the planting season. For refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan, however, there is only anticipation of continued misery. Many temporary camps are closed to new arrivals, but thousands of refugees continue to come to the remaining camps, straining resources to the maximum.

There is no letup in the crisis in Darfur, in western Sudan. Refugee camps continue to swell with those displaced from their homes, sheltering up to 100,000 people in areas where the original population was perhaps one-tenth that number.

The crisis is growing worse in the Darfur region of Sudan, as fighting continues despite a peace agreement signed in May 2006. On January 10, 2007, the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels agreed to a 60-day ceasefire and peace summit, but both sides have broken previous ceasefires and there have been reports that this one has been broken also.