Essay On Sudan Genocide
For many people, when they think of genocide, they think of the Holocaust, or how it is a concern of the past. It surely could not be happening right now? Wrong. Genocide is still a big problem globally, and one of the countries currently suffering is Sudan. A corrupt government leader and two groups with disagreeing views have led to a long-lasting conflict in Sudan. The conflict has been one-sided, as one of the rebel groups has had much more support. The genocide is long-lasting, with no sign of stopping in the foreseeable future.
Sudan’s notoriously inadequate government and conflicting citizens were destined to fail from the start. With a history of coups d’état, “the first being in 1958 and sixteen happening since” (Sudan). Only five have been triumphant with the most recent occurring in 2019. In addition to multiple coups d’état, Sudan has experienced “three civil wars dating back to the founding of the country” (Sudan). As a result, Sudan has had more years of fighting in civil wars than not being in one. In addition to the Civil Wars that raged on, countless other smaller conflicts plagued Sudan. History has proven Sudan to be a conflict-stricken country that has not been able to establish a strong central government.
With a poor central government, a country is bound to not have the most excellent economy. Evidently, Sudan ranks in the “bottom 89th percentile and last in the Sub-Saharan region” (Heritage). Therefore, Sudan has one of the worst economies in the world. The ongoing genocide in Darfur and several other issues are no help to Sudan’s dwindling economy. A “lack of basic infrastructure makes Sudan an inhospitable place for businesses” (Heritage). Not to mention the greatly increasing inflation leading to political unrest. Consequently, these previous causes directly correlate to a weak education and healthcare system. “Many children on average only go through 3.7 years of school”(Sudan), ranking Sudan at the bottom of education rates. Citizens that reside outside of the capital have little access to healthcare as most of the hospitals are located there.
The previous information may lead one to understand how the genocide in Sudan could have started. Even with all the violence and economic issues the country endures, the root of the problem can be traced to the president, Omar al-Bashir. With tensions rising in 2002, Non-Arab groups began to protest what they felt was unfair treatment by the government, which was predominantly Arab. “The JEM and SLA rebel groups began organizing raids on government facilities”(Ray). The Arab militias formed together and created the Janjaweed to answer the raid. “They were funded by the Sudanese government and sent to retaliate against the rebel groups” (Ray). Within hours, the Janjaweed were able to turn the tides of the conflict and take back control. The issue is they did not stop there. They continued to infiltrate villages, “burning them to the ground while killing, torturing and raping the civilians”(Ray).
With the Janjaweed ravaging villages and towns, it is confirmed that over “300,000 citizens have been killed and over 3 million have been displaced” (Vision of Humanity). Furthermore, if one is lucky enough to return home, many can not, seeing that the village they once called home is completely devastated. The destruction of homes has instigated a great influx of “refugees to neighboring countries such as Chad”(Vision of Humanity), Egypt, and Ethiopia. Evidently, “over 14 years the total cost of the conflict has totaled 88.7 billion)”(Vision Humanity), initiating Sudan to undergo an economic recession.
Although the conflict has occurred nonstop for almost twenty years straight, numerous countries have supplied aid and signed treaties to institute stoppage. The “African Union sent 7,000 peacekeepers in 2004 and the UN sent 26,000 peacekeepers in 2006” (Vision Humanity), to bring the genocide to a resolution. NATO has also gotten involved since they “airlifted almost 5,000 troops into Darfur” (NATO). These acts of support were very insignificant within the issue as “in 2008, the UN characterized the conflict as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises” (Gale). Regardless of all the assistance, Darfur has received upon the advent of the conflict, recently there has been much less media coverage of the issue. Some believe, “The world has seemed to forget about the crisis”(Gale).
Looking at Sudan’s future, it is not very bright. Say the genocide ends right now, Sudan will not be nearly the same for years to come. “Many cannot return to their homes” (Gale), and the ones who can return “cannot grow crops as the ground is burnt” (Gale). The future generations will greatly suffer as “many of the children affected will not know basic skills to succeed in life” (Reeves). Sudan has already funneled so much money to end the genocide, yet to end the fighting, it would take millions more, which Sudan simply does not have to give. The conflict shows no signs of ending soon, even though al-Bashir has been incarcerated since a good deal of his officials are still in power.
Sudan’s troubled government and opposing religions have led the country into a downward spiral with no hopes of prosperity. Thousands have been killed and millions have been negatively affected as the conflict rages on. The future children of Sudan will have tremendous struggles since they were affected so much by the genocide. Genocides like these and the one in Rwanda are very important to study so the world can assure these do not happen again.
