Darfur
[Economist] APPARENTLY, according to Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir, everyone has been getting all steamed-up about nothing in Darfur. In fact most of Sudan’s western region is “secure and enjoying real peace”, he announced after a rare visit to Darfur last weekend. “People are living normal lives”, he said.
That will come as a surprise to more than 2m desperately poor, vulnerable and hungry internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur itself, and to the 200,000 or so refugees who have fled over the border to camps in neighbouring Chad. Their misery comes on top of an estimated 200,000—400,000 people who have died since 2003 when fighting erupted in Darfur; many of the deaths have been caused by forces controlled by the Sudanese government.
