Historical Context:

February 2003: Two rebel opposition groups of black Africans, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), took up arms against the dominantly Arab government because they perceived a lack of governmental protection for their people and marginalization and underdevelopment of their region, Darfur.

In response, government-supported Arab militias have been systematically attacking and killing black Africans, a process which many international entities have called ethnic cleansing. There are confirmed reports and photographs of systematic raping, razing of villages, destruction of food and water supplies, and massacres. The violence continues as the UN Security Council has neglected to take immediate and decisive action to curb the crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Current Situation:

Arab militiamen supported and armed by the Sudanese government have been executing a campaign of killing, raping and destruction since February of 2003.

Experts estimate that now as many as 500 people are dying in Darfur each day.

Estimates say since February 2003, 400,000 Darfurians have lost their lives, and 2.5 million Darfurians have been forced to flee their homes, according to U.N. figures.

Displaced people (90% women and children) are forced to live in refugee camps, where they live in risk of rape, detention, torture, further displacement, starvation and disease.

Aid agencies working to curb malnutrition and disease in refugee camps in Darfur and Chad do not have enough resources. There is not enough food, clean water or medicine and at least 10,000 people are dying each month in the camps.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) reports that insecurity and restrictions on humanitarian workers’ access continue to impede the delivery of food and other assistance to refugee camps. It is simply too dangerous for aid workers to get to many refugee camps.

Currently, the only peacekeepers present are the African Union troops, which lack the resources, manpower and mandate needed to provide effective security.

80% of the children suffer from severe malnutrition and many die every day.

The crisis is described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and many officials have compared the current destruction and systematic ethnic cleansing to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.