Sudan: suffering in global silence

them are inaccessible because of continued violence in the areas where they are located. Meanwhile, the U.N. continues to battle the Sudanese government, local rebels and harsh environmental conditions to get what little food and supplies they can to those in need.

Right now in the northeast corner of Africa in a medium sized country called Sudan there could be hundreds of people dying. Some of violence, others of malnutrition and disease. A 2004 State Department report called the situation in the Sudan “the worst humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world today.”

The ruling Arab Muslims in the Darfur region of Sudan embarked on a mission in 2003 to ethnically cleanse their country of non-Muslim Africans. Government supported militias known as “Janjaweed” terrorize non-Muslims, and those who are not killed are forced into refugee camps. However, the standard of living in these camps is far from respectable. Many in the camps die from malnourishment and disease. There are 129 refugee camps in Sudan however, 31 of

This is not the first crisis of this nature to occur on the international stage. In the early 1990’s, feuding warlords in Somalia were leaving thousands starving. U.S. forces stepped in to ensure food provided by the U.N. and got to those who needed it. Later in 1994, when Slobodan Milosevic and his Serbian forces were slaughtering thousands of Muslims in Bosnia, the U.S. stepped in as a large part of the U.N. Protection Force to ensure that the fighting stopped and that a peace was brokered.

In these situations, the U.S. did not hesitate to participate and even promote assisting these countries. So why does Sudan seem to have fallen by the wayside? Both the U.S. and U.N., while pleading acknowledgement of the situation, seem to have made little effort in seeking a solution to it. Food supplies and medical aid are short-term solutions to a long-term conflict. Food and supplies do not stop