Darfar, African Crisis, Politics and Aid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Darfar, African Crisis, Politics and Aid - Essay Example a number of seemingly rational reasons like maintenance of personal freedom, adherence to social balance, and maintenance of law and order are the common refrains that can be heard from people who believe that human rights are being given more importance than that it ideally should get in the international scene. There are many concerns that are debated when human rights issues are raised in the international forums. Often it has been seen that human rights issues have been used as a convenient tool to corner nations that are out of favor with the power blocks of the world. Darfur in Sudan has been in the news recently for gross violation of human rights that is happening in the country. The crisis that started in 2003 attained international significance when the government of the country was alleged to be abetting human rights violation. The country faced severe censure in many international forums and was criticized for the way in which it handled the issue. The crisis started when rebel forces attacked government installations accusing it of ignoring the black population of the country in favor of people of Arab origin. In retaliation, the Sudanese government forces and militia of Arab origin, also called as the Janjaweed, has let loose a campaign of terror that has so far claimed about 200,000 lives and left about four million people homeless. The crimes perpetuated on the black population include murder and atrocities on women in addition to arson and plunder. It has been reported that the militia surround refugee camps and attack refugees if they venture too far away from the camp. Even though military were deployed to control the militia many human rights groups claim that the military acts in collusion with the Janjaweed. Opposing the military and Janjaweed is the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, both of which have volunteers recruited from the local black tribes. [BBC, 2007] The Sudanese government has interfered in