It was July 31, 2007. The news had just come over the wires that the United Nations had passed Resolution 1769, authorizing a joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force to protect the civilians of Darfur. The force would be called UNAMID and would replace a weak African Union peacekeeping force that really had only been able to watch as Janjaweed militias massacred Darfuris from targeted ethnic groups, raped women and burned villages to the ground.
We almost couldn't believe it. Students worldwide had been calling for the intervention of a U.N. peacekeeping force for years, outside of embassies and consulates and Congress. And here we were, three months after a Global Day for Darfur when people in over 40 cities worldwide donned their blue berets and cried for peacekeepers, and the peacekeepers were on their way. We patted one another on the back and said, grinning, "Job well done," and we walked away. In walking away, we turned our backs on Darfur.
While our backs were turned, this is what happened: Of the 26,000 troops promised to the victims of the genocide, only several thousand pairs of boots ever touched the sand of Darfur. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir denied and delayed visas to the few brave enough to volunteer. The Sudanese government restricted the United Nations' movement and limited the hours its people could fly in and out of airports. Meanwhile, the Darfuris looked hopefully upward towards the white planes with U.N. markings, unaware that the planes were carrying Sudanese soldiers, ready to bomb. All this time, UNAMID did not even have a single helicopter to its name. It lacked even the most basic of equipment. What it did have was either stolen by bandits or had been held up on the long road from Port Sudan. Without this equipment, not only could UNAMID not do its job of protecting civilians, it could barely protect itself. UNAMID has been assaulted repeatedly. Peacekeepers who came to monitor a peace became casualties in a war the world thought was over.
Meanwhile, the attacks against civilians continued. In the first ten months of 2008 alone, over 230,000 Darfuris were forced to flee violence. And even once Darfuris fled their burning villages, they weren't safe. This year, the Sudanese government made a point to surround a camp for displaced Darfuris with 100 tanks and then open fire. UNAMID was denied access to the camps to evacuate the wounded.
It had taken us far too long to realize that ending the genocide in Darfur was not as easy as having one document, Resolution 1769, signed.
And now, here we stand, with a peacekeeping force that can barely protect itself, let alone the victims of genocide in one of the most hostile environments in the world. They're still missing helicopters, they're still missing equipment, they're still missing boots on the ground and every day, hundreds Darfuris are forced to flee their homes.
UNAMID is not hopeless. The men and women in the blue berets are serving bravely in the desert, against the odds, doing the best they can with what they have. UNAMID still accompanies women trying to get firewood, they still run escorts and they still are the only protection offered to the Darfuri people.
We cannot turn our backs again on Darfur. We must learn from our mistakes and accept that there is no magic solution to Darfur's problems. UNAMID is not a complete failure, but it does need our help. It needs troops, it needs equipment and it needs the power to accomplish the job it was created to do. The United Nations created UNAMID because of pressure from us, constituents who demanded a peacekeeping force in Darfur. If UNAMID is to be helped, we must demand it. We have to once again put pressure on the United Nations as constituents who want to end the genocide in Darfur.
This time, however, we must insist that UNAMID be improved. It is not acceptable that UNAMID troops are victims of killings. It is not acceptable that they are ill-equipped and have to fear for their own safety while trying to protect others. And it not acceptable for us to stand by and watch as UNAMID struggles and Darfuris die. We must stand up against the genocide and insist that the United Nations develop a peacekeeping force with the power to protect citizens and prevent the murder, rape and displacement of Darfuris.
If you're interested in ending the genocide, you can join STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, which is an international, student-led anti-genocide constituency. You can also log onto www.standnow.org to educate yourself and find out how to end the genocide in Darfur. And most of all, don't turn your back on Darfur.
--Sabina Carlson is a Junior majoring in Peace and Justice Studies and Sarah Carpenteris a Freshman who has not declared a major. They are both members of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition.
