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| The Devil Came on Horseback's Brian聽Steidle with refugee children in Chad. (Gretchen Steidle Wallace Photo) |
If you haven鈥檛 heard about the crisis in Darfur, a region of the African country of Sudan, chances are that you鈥檙e not alone.聽
However, it鈥檚 likely that you鈥檝e heard of Rwanda and of promises like 鈥淣ever again will the world watch idly as genocide is committed on innocent people.鈥� In Darfur, genocide is happening again, and it鈥檚 been happening for more than five years while the world has done little but watch.
After five years, the situation in Darfur is getting worse; in fact, the conflict has now spread to the neighbouring countries of Chad and the Central African Republic. By the numbers, the situation is sickening: an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 are dead and upwards of 3.5 million people are displaced and living in refugee camps where they are threatened daily by starvation, violence and rape. Every month, 6,000 more innocents are killed simply because of their ethnicity. The perpetrators are groups of militia called the Janjaweed, which literally means "Devils on Horseback." They are funded, armed and directly aided by the Sudanese government, which claims to be protecting their people.
Faced with the worst humanitarian crisis of the new millennium, how has the United Nations responded?聽 A handful of powerless resolutions and empty promises is all they have to show for all their outrage. In August 2007, the UN Security Council agreed to mobilize a peacekeeping force of 26,000 to the area and while countries squabble about troop contributions, thousands of people continue to die. This should not weigh lightly on our own country鈥檚 conscience, which has stood by and watched along with the world, while our reputation as a peacekeeping nation disintegrates.
A group of 91短视频 students is trying to do something about Canada鈥檚 involvement and is pushing our leaders to find a resolution for the people of Darfur. Stand is a national organization dedicated to raising awareness and promoting action from fellow students, community members and representatives at all levels of government.
The group believes Canada has an important and necessary role to play in stopping the genocide and focuses on taking action to bring about the necessary change in social attitude and government policy. For example, they recently launched a toll-free phone line that is the first of its kind in Canada. The idea is simple yet effective: by dialing 1-800-GEN-OCID(E), callers can be connected directly to the offices of influential members of parliament, including Prime Minister Harper, the leader of the Liberal party, Stephane Dion and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay.聽Students are encouraged to call the easy-to-use system and let our leaders know how important this issue is to us.
As a kick off to the upcoming year of advocacy work, Stand is hosting a聽free outdoor movie night.聽It will be screening The Devil Came on Horseback, projected onto the back of the Multifaith Centre in a drive-in theatre style (minus the cars).聽
The event will take place Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. behind the Multifaith Centre on the corner of Edward Street and University Avenue. There will be warm drinks provided so bring a mug as well as blankets, chairs, tarps and anything else that will make the movie more comfortable.聽
Come on out and learn about the crisis in Darfur and what Stand is doing to work towards ending the genocide.聽聽