An Arabic colloquialism, “A man with a gun on a horse, to some of us, hearing that can mean, “a knight in shinning armor”, but in this faraway, vast region, situated on the west side of Sudan, Africa's largest country, the people of Darfur knows that “A man on a horse” means that they should take cover; the Janjaweed Militias who prey upon them like plague, raping their women, killing their men and children and burning their villages, are coming.
Darfur is Sudan's largest region, on it's western border with Libya, Chad, and Central Africa. Darfur is Arabic, for “home of the Fur”. They are black Africans, originated from western Sudan who inhabited the region of Darfur. Since 1994, Darfur has been divided into three federal sates within Sudan. Gharb Darfur (West Darfur), Janub Darfur (South Darfur), and Shamal Darfur (North Darfur).
The predominant ethnic groups of West Darfur are the Massalit, Fur and Zaghawa.
The region of Darfur covers an area of 196,555 miles (493,180 km), over
two thirds the size of France, half the size of Kenya or the size of Texas. It constitutes an estimated population of 7.4 million people, of which, the majority are black Africans and some Arabs. The Darfurians are made up of 43% black African Muslims, 14% Arabic Muslims, 5-10 % Christians and 33% Islamics.
Darfur's four main physical geographic features are its' sandy soils know as “goz”. In some places the goz is waterless and can only be inhabited where there are water reservoirs or wells. Even while dry, goz still supports rich pastures and a wide range of farmlands. Its' second feature are the wadis. They are valleys of a stream, many of them contains pans of alluvium with rich soil that are also hard to cultivate. The small wadis flood occasionally during the wet season, while the large wadis flood during most of the rainfalls, and flow from western Darfur hundreds of miles to Lake Chad. The third feature, dominates the west of Darfur, basement rock, sometimes covered with a thin layer of sandy soil. Basement rock is too infertile to be farmed, but it provides sporadic forest cover that can be grazed by animals. The Marrah Mountains, the fourth feature of Darfur, volcanic plugs created by mountain mass that rises up to a peak at Deriba crater where there is a small area of temperate climate, high rainfall and permanent springs of water.
During the rainy season, June through to September, the region is transformed from dusty brown to lush green. The rains are vital to Darfur as agriculture plays a major roll in their economy. Darfur's economy is primarily based on subsistence agriculture, producing cereal, millet wheat, fruits, and tobacco. In the drier north livestock is produced. Under normal circumstances, millet, a chief crop is usually ready to be harvested by November. After being harvested, the dry stalk is fed to domestic livestock. Cattle, sheep and goats are raised in the north.
The Janjaweed militias fear no one. They are well equipped fighting forces. Even as the African Union peacekeeping force, patrol the refugee camps they fear of the power of the Janjaweed militias; the Arabs known as “A man with a gun on a horse”. They are members of nomadic Arab tribes who for years have been referred to as bandits, preying on non-Arab farms, stealing their resources and destroying their villages.
In the early 1950s, there were constant conflicts among the Darfur farmers and the Arab tribes over resources, but these clashes would be resolved through negotiations with community leaders. In early 2003, conflicts among the Darfurians and the Arabs became catastrophic, after two non-Arab groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, took up arms against the Sudanese government, claiming mistreatment by the Arab regime in the capital state, Khartoum. The Sudanese Militiamen Janjaweed, were recruited by the government in response to the Darfurians' uprising.
The violence in west Darfur still continues, it has touched almost the entire population either directly or indirectly. Ethnic groups, such as, the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa, has been the primary target, while the Arab regions are left untouched. This has become the world's worse humanitarian crises, as the Arab Janjaweed militias along side government forces have committed numerous attacks on the Darfurians, participating in rapes and assault their women and young girls, massacres, executions of men, women and children, and burning their villages. This attack on the civilians of Darfur has resulted in the deaths of 400,000 civilians, more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camp, in Sudan, or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival.
Although there was a public declaration on February 9th, 2003, by the President of Sudan, Omar El Bashir, that the war was over and there would be an end to military operations in Darfur; and the Peace agreement signed on May 5th, 2006, in desperate effort to end the conflict, the fighting still continues, escalating into a cohesive rebel movement.
To the end, it is no wonder that the cries for help are so resonate as the face of darkness shadows over West Sudan, the largest region, Darfur, haunts the world. The fight for survival rest not only in the hands of the weak and suffering victims but, in the hands of all of the us, our strength. For the weak will forever need the strong to carry them.
