Darfur
Darfur is a region to the west of Sudan, bordering Chad in North-East Africa. Over 6 million people live in Darfur and over half of those are Black Africans. The rest are Arab. In more recent times, the Black Africans have been referred to as “abid” (meaning “slave”) by the Arabs, who see the Africans as inferior.
Since 2003, a civil war has raged in the region between the sedentary population of farmers, who mainly see themselves as Africans, and the nomadic population who regard themselves as Arabic and who have been supported by the Sudanese Government.
This civil war has lead to the deaths of between 200,000 and 400,000 civilians. Up to 2.5 million people in Darfur are now displaced – they have been forced to flee their homes and now live in makeshift refugee camps either in Darfur or Chad run by international aid agencies. Many of these civilians have had to endure these conditions for over three years. A further two million people rely on international assistance, bringing the total civilians affected by the conflict to over four million people.
