Violence in Darfur

Policy Briefs Program

April 2022

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Violence in Darfur

Recent Attack in Darfur:

• On April 21, 2022, a dispute over land between Arab nomads and the ethnic black Masalit community sparked the most recent attack in Darfur, a region in western Sudan. The attack led to the death of the nomads. 
• The following day Arab forces raided the city of Kreinik, leaving nine dead and 16 injured. 
• On April 24, the Rapid Support Forces, an offshoot of the Janjaweed, drove violence to the capital of Darfur, Genena.
• The violence caused approximately 200 casualties. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that government buildings and Kreinik’s only hospital were attacked in the conflict. 
• In December 2021, a property dispute at a local market between the Arab nomad population and the Masalit community resulted in 88 deaths. 

UN Response: 

• As UN peacekeeping forces withdrew from Darfur in 2020, they were not able to suppress the violence. 
• The role of maintaining peace is now the responsibility of a joint force of the police, army, the RSF, and rebel groups, as detailed in the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement. 
• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the violence and called for the “acceleration of the deployment of the joint security-keeping forces.”
• According to 2022 UN figures, nearly 6.2 million people will need humanitarian assistance, which is about “half of the population in the region.” 

History of Violence in Darfur:

• In 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), a rebel group, launched an insurrection against the Sudanese government. The SLA claimed that the central government neglected Darfur and its non-Arab population. 
• As a response, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir equipped an Arab militia, the Janjaweed, to fight the rebel forces in Darfur. The UN estimates the conflict killed nearly 400,000 civilians, displaced millions, and prevented international aid from entering the region. 
• In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell labeled the killings in Darfur as genocide. That same year, the Sudanese government signed a ceasefire with the two rebel groups, SLA and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). 
• Additionally, the African Union sent troops to maintain peace. Despite the peace efforts, violence continues in Darfur. 
• The Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and the main rebel group Sudan Liberation Army was signed in 2005; however, the JEM refused. The peace agreement was not successful as the Janjaweed continued attacks on the civilian population. 
• In 2007, the UN Security Council authorized an UN-AU peacekeeping mission, UNAMID, with troops deployed to Darfur the following year. Conflict does not cease despite UN efforts. 
• Despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) having two arrest warrants against al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide, he was re-elected in 2010 and 2015. In April 2019, the Sudanese army arrested al-Bashir and handed the leader to the ICC to face his charges.

Recent Attack in Darfur:

• On April 21, 2022, a dispute over land between Arab nomads and the ethnic black Masalit community sparked the most recent attack in Darfur, a region in western Sudan. The attack led to the death of the nomads. 
• The following day Arab forces raided the city of Kreinik, leaving nine dead and 16 injured. 
• On April 24, the Rapid Support Forces, an offshoot of the Janjaweed, drove violence to the capital of Darfur, Genena.
• The violence caused approximately 200 casualties. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that government buildings and Kreinik’s only hospital were attacked in the conflict. 
• In December 2021, a property dispute at a local market between the Arab nomad population and the Masalit community resulted in 88 deaths. 

UN Response: 

• As UN peacekeeping forces withdrew from Darfur in 2020, they were not able to suppress the violence. 
• The role of maintaining peace is now the responsibility of a joint force of the police, army, the RSF, and rebel groups, as detailed in the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement. 
• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the violence and called for the “acceleration of the deployment of the joint security-keeping forces.”
• According to 2022 UN figures, nearly 6.2 million people will need humanitarian assistance, which is about “half of the population in the region.” 

History of Violence in Darfur:

• In 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), a rebel group, launched an insurrection against the Sudanese government. The SLA claimed that the central government neglected Darfur and its non-Arab population. 
• As a response, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir equipped an Arab militia, the Janjaweed, to fight the rebel forces in Darfur. The UN estimates the conflict killed nearly 400,000 civilians, displaced millions, and prevented international aid from entering the region. 
• In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell labeled the killings in Darfur as genocide. That same year, the Sudanese government signed a ceasefire with the two rebel groups, SLA and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). 
• Additionally, the African Union sent troops to maintain peace. Despite the peace efforts, violence continues in Darfur. 
• The Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and the main rebel group Sudan Liberation Army was signed in 2005; however, the JEM refused. The peace agreement was not successful as the Janjaweed continued attacks on the civilian population. 
• In 2007, the UN Security Council authorized an UN-AU peacekeeping mission, UNAMID, with troops deployed to Darfur the following year. Conflict does not cease despite UN efforts. 
• Despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) having two arrest warrants against al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide, he was re-elected in 2010 and 2015. In April 2019, the Sudanese army arrested al-Bashir and handed the leader to the ICC to face his charges.