U.S. and European media

March 10, 2023

Reuters: Four peacekeepers wounded in Darfur attack. Darfur gunmen ambushed United Nations and African Union peacekeepers, wounding four, officials said on Tuesday, in the first serious violence since an international arrest warrant for Sudan's president was issued. The joint UNAMID peacekeeping force said the attack marked a worrying escalation in attacks against its troops. Unknown armed men opened fire late on Monday on a UNAMID patrol returning to el-Geneina, the main town in west Darfur close to the border with Chad, said spokesman Noureddine Mezni. The four soldiers, one reportedly in a serious condition, were flown to the peacekeepers' base in El Fasher, North Darfur for treatment, he added.

Reuters: Sudan expulsions of NGOs leave aid gap -UN. The Sudanese government is unable to take on the work of aid groups it has ordered out of the country's war-ravaged Darfur region, the top U.N. humanitarian affairs official said on Monday. The African nation shut down 13 foreign and three local non-governmental organizations, saying they helped the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes predicted a daunting challenge if the government in Khartoum didn't reverse its expulsion of the groups, which he said accounted for approximately half of the humanitarian aid capacity in Darfur. "We do not, as the U.N. system, the NGOs do not, ... and the (Sudanese) government does not have the capacity to replace all the activities that have been going on, certainly not on any short- or medium-term basis," Holmes told reporters.

Reuters: U.S. embassy in Khartoum lets some staff leave. The U.S. embassy in Khartoum has authorised the voluntary evacuation of non-essential staff after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president over Darfur, an embassy official said on Tuesday. "This is one step down from an ordered evacuation of non-essential staff," the official told Reuters, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. The official said the decision was partly a diplomatic move in reaction to Sudan's expulsion and harassment of aid groups.

The following op-ed by Bakheit Shata appeared in yesterday's Omaha World Herald. 

Midlands Voices: Stand up against genocide

Seven thousand and three hundred miles. That is the approximate distance between Omaha and my homeland of Darfur, a Texas-sized region in the country of Sudan on the continent of Africa.

It is home to more than 6 million people who are suffering horrifically at the hands of a government that believes their lives are expendable. Quite literally, Darfur is about as far away from Nebraska as you can get. And that is why I believe the genocide occurring there is your concern, too.

In Darfur, I was a teacher and frequently spoke out against the Sudanese government for failing to provide for its people. When I was fired for vocalizing my opinion, I began to fear for my safety and made the difficult decision to flee my country, leaving behind family and friends.

Six years ago, I moved to Omaha and established an organization dedicated to assisting the hundreds of newly arrived Darfuri refugees and thousands of Southern Sudanese in this state.

Along the way, I have found many fine organizations and individuals who have generously given their time, resources and energy to help others. People like U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns, Rep. Lee Terry and many Jewish leaders in Omaha understand that what's happening in Darfur will stop only through collective outrage and deliberate action.

Though there are many documented examples of oppressed people rising up to seek an end to their own suffering, history tells us that genocide cannot be completely stopped from within. The reality is that the slaughter, maiming, rape, displacement and torture of innocent people will continue year after year without intervention from the international community.

In the last 100 years alone, we have seen six genocides take place on three continents, resulting in millions of lost, wounded and terrorized lives: Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and, now, Darfur. Clearly, we have not learned, have not recognized the signs, have not reacted soon enough -- if at all.

Why, we must ask ourselves, does history keep repeating itself? Given the right circumstances, we know that genocide can happen anywhere to anyone. Black, white, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, European, African, Asian -- no one is immune if the situation is ripe.

It is too late to undo past horrors. But in the case of Darfur, we can and must act. Though hundreds of thousands have already died or been displaced, hundreds of thousands more still need our help.

We are now politically as well as morally compelled to act. On March 4, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The charges: crimes against humanity and war crimes.

World leaders are now obligated to respond, and President Barack Obama will have no choice but to follow through on his promise of "unstinting resolve" on the issue of Darfur.

The al-Bashir arrest warrant is likely to escalate an already violent and intolerable situation, and Obama must show the world that ending this crisis is a top priority. His first order of business: appointing an envoy dedicated to resolving the crisis.

In April -- Genocide Prevention Month -- nations around the world will commemorate past atrocities. But to truly commemorate past genocides, we must be willing to act now to save Darfur.

I realize that, given the complexity of the problem, it is a lot to ask. Given the proximity of the problem, it is a lot to ask. Given the seeming insurmountability of the problem, it is a lot to ask.

And yet, I am compelled to ask anyway: Will you accept your responsibility and stand up for the people of Darfur? Visit http://genocidepreventionmonth.org to learn how.

The writer is the founder and executive director of the Darfur Community Organization of Nebraska, which helps Darfuri and Sudanese refugees when they arrive in the United States.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].