Darfur Refugees: A Global Issue
by Marlive, TheGRITS.com
Bloggers Unite, a call to action group at BlogCatalog.com, along with Refugees United are giving bloggers, vloggers and photo bloggers from all walks of life an opportunity to use their space to make the world a better place. Today I join bloggers world-wide to speak up on behalf of more than 40 million voiceless refugees who have been forced to leave their homes because of man’s inhumanity to man via — GENOCIDE!
Raphael Lemkin, a Polish scholar, coined the word genocide in 1944 to describe the systematic extermination of Jews by the Nazis during World War II. Though this word came into existence just 64 years ago, genocide has been a common practice since ancient times in all parts of the world.
Genocide is what happened to:
- Native Americans in the US from 1490-1914
- Tasmanian Aborigines in 1803-1847
- Armenians in 1915-1917
- Cambodians in 1975-1979
- Guatemalans in 1981-1983
- Bosnians in 1992-1995
- Rwandans in just 100 days in 1994
And here we are in the 21st century, an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, and information about the genocide in Darfur and the millions of refugees left in its wake is a crisis we just don’t hear about.
When I signed up to participate in this event, I was reading, Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond co-authored by award-winning actor Don Cheadle and leading activist John Prendergast. For the first time in US history, Secretary of State Colin Powell testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2004 that genocide was indeed being committed in Darfur by the Government of Sudan and the Janjuweed Militia. As Martin Shaw stated in his book, What is Genocide?, “this was the first time a sovereign nation accused another sovereign nation of active genocide under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” But as important as Powell’s testimony was, the Bush Administration referred it to the UN for follow up and just sends large amounts of aid—but nothing more. The only thing that has been on President Bush’s “Watch” is our invasion of Iraq for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to fight against terrorism. Well we know with certainty that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as reported, and as far as terrorism goes, isn’t genocide and the refugees affected by it just as important? You bet it is and that fact is what fueled Don Cheadle and John Prendergast to pen this empowering book which gives activists inspiring first-person accounts as to what has gone on in Darfur since Secretary of State Colin Powell’s testimony and a variety of paths to action.
The crisis in Darfur started in 2003 and continues today! According to a recent report from the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, nearly a quarter million civilians have fled from violence in Darfur this year (2008); more than half of those displaced by violence are under the age of 18. All of these refugees now face starvation, disease, and rape, while those who remain risk torture; Darfur’s Refugees need our help! So what can we do to help them? TAKE ACTION! We’ve just witnessed a historic presidential election this month when millions of us voted for change in Washington. If we can do that, I know we can help these refugees and stop the genocide in Darfur too!
HOW TO HELP
1. Learn
Learn all you can about the history of this conflict and about the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan. By finding out more about the conflict, checking out other resources and educating yourself about the status of current legislation, you will have the knowledge you need to help the people of Darfur.
2. Communicate
Spread the word! Start telling everyone you know about the crisis in Darfur. Send a message to our national leaders letting them know that the genocide in Darfur is just as critical and important as terrorism is in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries.
3. Divest for Darfur
Divest for Darfur is a national campaign to encourage investment firms –JP Morgan, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Investments, Capital Group (American Funds), and Vanguard — to withdraw investments from companies that help fund genocide in Darfur.
4. Donate
Your financial gift (which is tax-deductible) will help fund those advocacy programs that play a critical role in building the political pressure needed to end the crisis in Darfur and help refugees.
Learn more about the crisis in Darfur, watch this video; then tell someone!
Tags: activist, blogcatalog.com, bloggers-unite, Darfur, genocide, refugees-united, social-awareness, Sudan