A College Student's Take on Darfur
Friday, February 16, 2007
Today's post was written by our Communications intern Seth:
Darfur is by now the most publicized genocide and humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. While many Americans may not know the extent of the abuse, it is common knowledge that Arab militias affiliated with the Sudanese government are responsible for raping and murdering thousands of innocent villagers.
So far this conflict has displaced 2.2 million people from their homes and led to more than 400,000 deaths. Thousands have been raped. These numbers are increasing every day, despite Khartoum’s hypothetical acceptance of a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force. Since 2004 Refugees International has conducted nine missions to Sudan and Chad and continues to actively advocate for the victims of this deepening humanitarian crisis.
As an intern for Refugees International and a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I can testify to the fact that a surprising number of average college students are well-informed about the genocide and that many care deeply about this issue. In fact, one of the largest and most active student groups at UNC is S.U.D.A.N., Students United for Darfur Action Now, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness and raising money for Darfur. Similar groups exist and are active on college campuses all across the country.
But if this is the case, why has nothing substantive been done to stop the human rights abuses? Dedicated and selfless activism at the grass-roots level has helped raise considerable awareness and financial support for this issue. Personally, I find it very heartening that so many ordinary Americans are becoming interested and getting involved.
Unfortunately, significant policy changes must also occur at the national and particularly the international level before the genocide can be stopped and the displaced can finally return home. But thankfully, the dedicated and hard-working advocates here at Refugees International are doing everything they can to ensure that these changes are made sooner rather than later.
Darfur is by now the most publicized genocide and humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. While many Americans may not know the extent of the abuse, it is common knowledge that Arab militias affiliated with the Sudanese government are responsible for raping and murdering thousands of innocent villagers.
So far this conflict has displaced 2.2 million people from their homes and led to more than 400,000 deaths. Thousands have been raped. These numbers are increasing every day, despite Khartoum’s hypothetical acceptance of a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force. Since 2004 Refugees International has conducted nine missions to Sudan and Chad and continues to actively advocate for the victims of this deepening humanitarian crisis.
As an intern for Refugees International and a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I can testify to the fact that a surprising number of average college students are well-informed about the genocide and that many care deeply about this issue. In fact, one of the largest and most active student groups at UNC is S.U.D.A.N., Students United for Darfur Action Now, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness and raising money for Darfur. Similar groups exist and are active on college campuses all across the country.
But if this is the case, why has nothing substantive been done to stop the human rights abuses? Dedicated and selfless activism at the grass-roots level has helped raise considerable awareness and financial support for this issue. Personally, I find it very heartening that so many ordinary Americans are becoming interested and getting involved.
Unfortunately, significant policy changes must also occur at the national and particularly the international level before the genocide can be stopped and the displaced can finally return home. But thankfully, the dedicated and hard-working advocates here at Refugees International are doing everything they can to ensure that these changes are made sooner rather than later.
Labels: Darfur
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