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Sudan
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The Darfur Crisis…
The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rose against government military installations in the region in retaliation for economic and political marginalization. They also accused the government of arming the Arab militias, called the Janjaweed, to drive out African farmers from their lands in a campaign of ethnic cleansing which the US congress has now called a “genocide.” Indiscriminate killing, mass rapes, looting of livestock and the burning of villages at the hands of government troops and the militias have resulted in 50,000 deaths and forced an estimated 1.2 million people from their homes. The majority of these people are in poorly run government-controlled Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps within Darfur, where they remain vulnerable to further attacks by the Janjaweed and have limited access to relief supplies. More than 170,000 Sudanese have fled across the border to neighboring Chad where they wait in makeshift shelters for international aid agencies to transport them to refugee camps away from the volatile Chad/Darfur border. This process has been hindered by the heavy rains and floods which make roads virtually impossible to use. The rain and sandstorms have also made it difficult for aid agencies to reach the refugee camps with vital supplies; overcrowding, food shortages and outbreaks of disease have further worsened the refugee crisis.
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