The ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan began in 2003, when the government of Sudan began sponsoring attacks against the people of Darfur.
The genocide has claimed at least 400,000 lives and displaced more than 2.5 million people. Violence, disease, and displacement continue to kill thousands of innocent Darfurians every month. About the size of Texas, the Darfur region is home to racially mixed tribes of settled peasants, who identify as African, and nomadic herders, who identify as Arab. The majority of people in both groups are Muslim.
In February 2003, frustrated by poverty and neglect from the government in Khartoum (the Sudanese capital), two Darfurian rebel groups launched an uprising against the Khartoum government. Claiming to be putting down the insurrection, the government responded with a scorched-earth campaign against the innocent civilians of Darfur, enlisting the Janjaweed, a militia drawn from members of Arab tribes in the region, to perpetrate the attacks.
Since February 2003, the government-sponsored Janjaweed have used rape, displacement, organized starvation, threats against aid workers, and mass murder to perpetrate genocide.
As the crisis continues today, the intentional displacement of millions has contributed to a major refugee crisis that is now spilling over to Sudan's neighbors, Chad and the Central African Republic. Violence continues today, not only against Darfurians, but additionally towards humanitarian workers. In the past four years, only a contingent of roughly 7,000 troops from the African Union (AU), severely lacking resources and experience, has been stationed in Darfur to attempt to protect the people. As of June 2007, the government of Sudan has accepted a proposal for a 23,000 member joint UN-AU "hybrid" force. However, given Sudan's history of deceit and empty promises, many remain skeptical of their commitment. Additionally, the international community has yet to provide enough funding for the force, which is not expected to deploy until 2008.
China, a member of the UN Security Council, has also been a major factor in sustaining the violence in Darfur with its significant economic investments in Sudanese oil, providing a large portion of the genocidal regime's revenue used to fund Janjaweed militias. Though activism and divestment have begun to gain momentum, Chinese economic investments continue to generate profits for Sudan. This is evident given that Sudan's Gross Domestic Product has actually increased since the genocide began, in addition to the fact that China's top oil company, CNPC, recently agreed to co-develop a new Sudanese oil field in late 2007. The United States has recently become more active on Darfur. On May 29th, 2007, the United States imposed further sanctions on targeted companies and individuals in an attempt to increase pressure on the Government of Sudan. In addition, despite the fact that the Unites States has not ratified the charter of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the US State Department said there are possibilities of aiding the ICC operations regarding Darfur. The ICC has issued warrants for the Janjaweed leader, Ali Muhammed Ali Abd al-Rahman (also called Ali Kushayb), and Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Ahmed Haroun. On August 1, 2007, the United Nations Security Council announced its decision to send 26,000 peacekeeping troops to Darfur with a Chapter 7 Mandate. Sudanese government officials have confirmed that the force will be allowed into Sudan in October, but many experts remain skeptical that such a force will be deployed by then.