Global Focus

Darfur – A 21st Century Warning

Hassan Mirza, Canada, Sunday 17 February 2008

As Gordon Brown continues to embark on his premiership he will be faced with many immediate challenges on the global scene such as Iraq, terrorism and reigniting the Middle East peace process. Perhaps the most pertinent of all however will be his handling of the crisis in Darfur. More than another war torn African tragedy, the origin of the Darfur conflict can be seen as environmental which has since provided a catalyst for political strife. More simply, Darfur offers a chilling warning of the destructive social effects that climate change can have.

Darfur is situated within the Republic of Sudan – Africa’s largest country. With access to wide deposits of oil, cotton and gum (albeit controlled by Western multinationals) the thirty five million inhabitants of the country enjoy a life expectancy and standard of living that is higher than many of its neighbours. Comprising of Muslim and Christian alike, it is the potential of Sudan that makes the current crisis in Darfur particularly tragic.

Civil War of course is nothing new to Sudan. Until 2004 the country has been continuously at war since 1956. Provoked by the Arab elite seeking to impose nationwide Sharia law in 1983, the Christian South sparked a rebellion led by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army which is still active in Darfur to this day. The peace deal in 2004 - that allowed Sharia law to function in the North, distributed oil revenues and government positions between both sides – is a positive development for though it is equally true that if not addressed correctly, Darfur could propel the country back into outright Civil War.

A semi arid Western province, the Darfur region is roughly the size of France. Just over half of the six million people in the region are black African, the rest being Arab. Until 2003 both groups have had a history of peaceful co-existence. From the 1980s however desertification has caused friction between the two groups. With Arab tribes being traditionally nomadic, and black Africans predominantly farmers, the change in the environment has caused both groups to conflict for the most prized resource in the region; water.

Moving onto black African farmlands to keep their herds alive, the black Africans were given little help from the Arab dominated government to protect their lands. In 2003 this resulted in the rebel groups targeting government buildings. With the government admitting a policy of ‘cleansing’ the region of black Africans and mobilising ‘self defence militias’ (Janjaweed) in support of this aim, the region has quickly descended into a humanitarian crisis. It is currently estimated that over two million are living in camps after being removed from their homes with little access to food, water or medical supplies.

Beyond religious divide or access to lands, the root of the Darfur crisis is climate change. The United Nations Environmental Programme has acknowledged this and recently released a statement predicting there would be little prospect of peace unless the issue of desertification through climate change was addressed. The UN is continuing to sponsor drilling expeditions in the Jebel Mara area of Darfur where it is anticipated there may be enough water to restructure the regions entire economy.

Any society is dependent upon its raw materials to survive. For generations social groupings have organised around this principal to ensure their basic needs. As can be seen through the prism of Darfur, the spectre of climate change has the potential to disrupt the social and political structure of the world like no other force known before. Unlike war, which ceases with victory, climate change has no such finality. As the rate of desertification increases, and moves from Darfur into neighbouring Chad which has the same social context, it can be argued that nature is performing its own form of cleansing of her perennial scourge; the human race.