FUND4DARFUR NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 - Spring 2008
“History will not forget your humanity for Darfur” - Hassan Angrib, Darfuri survivor
Dear Friends and Supporters of Fund4Darfur,
Welcome to the first Fund4Darfur newsletter. In the four months since our launch in December it has been a great encouragement to see the generosity of donations and range of activities undertaken by our supporters. Sponsored runs, skydives and dress-down days; coffee mornings, street collections, university hall raids and fashion shows have all helped increase the total of money raised and enabled us to provide support to Darfuris in the region and the UK in a meaningful way.
However, April 2008 also marks the fifth anniversary of the start of full-scale ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Recent reports suggest that a new wave of violence is being unleashed in the area, and although there has been progress made there is still much that needs to be done. Our fundraising target for this year is £200,000, so if you have a fundraising idea or are interested in helping in any way, please click here to get in touch and we can assist you.
Message from Dr. James Smith
"Sadly the future for the people of Darfur remains uncertain. Peace is nowhere in sight and the United Nations peacekeeping force is still only half strength. I returned from Eastern Chad last month and witnessed not only more non-Arabs fleeing from Darfur, but also Chadian tribes being displaced from their land. The efforts of Fund4Darfur and our supporters have never been so vital.
One root problem in Darfur is that non-Arabs have lacked opportunities to escape patterns of marginalisation, and the effort of refugees to organise schools in the camps and teach their children is therefore crucial. In teaming up with another British charity REACT, Fund4Darfur is helping to support schools inside camps in Eastern Chad. Your generosity is giving hope for children in Darfur and helping protect the vulnerable. Please keep up the great work..." – Dr. James Smith, Chief Executive of Aegis Trust
Helping survivors in the region
Fund4Darfur supports REACT
One of the primary objectives of Fund4Darfur is to provide support for Darfuri survivors in the region, to help rebuild lives and communities that have been shattered by the crisis. In keeping with this we are pleased to announce that Fund4Darfur will be supporting REACT (Refugee Education Against Conflicts Trust), with a donation of £6,000 towards the provision of school textbooks for young Darfuri refugees in camps in Eastern Chad.
According to the UNHCR, there are currently approximately 240,000 Sudanese refugees living in camps in Eastern Chad. Children of primary school age represent more than 30% of the entire refugee population, somewhere in the range of 80,000 children. Desperate for educational tools, young Darfuri often choose to re-enter Darfur, and travel vast distances across deserts and war zones simply to obtain textbooks and sit exams in their native towns.
REACT is a non-profit organization that aims to provide young people displaced by war and conflict with the educational tools that will – post conflict – allow them to re-enter their society as equals. In its Books Project, REACT has obtained much-needed textbooks for Darfuri refugee children, so even though they are in makeshift desert camps, they can continue to keep up with the Sudanese school curriculum from which they have become excluded.
“We learned from Rwanda that survivors who miss education find themselves severely disadvantaged, and the consequences of the atrocities continue for years. By educating Darfuri children in the camps it will help reverse the marginalisation which is part of the problem in the first place and will help them to be empowered when they finally return to Darfur.” – Dr. James Smith, Chief Executive, Aegis Trust
For more on REACT and their Books Project in Darfur click here.
Helping survivors in the UK
Meanwhile we continue our battle with the Home Office to stop returning Darfuris to Sudan, where they are at risk of being tortured. Aegis’ efforts have stalled many deportations over this past year, but the British Government still does not concede the level of danger they face on their return to Khartoum. We continue to collect evidence and are involved in another case in the courts on this matter in May.
Helping campaigns
The past few weeks have seen some major victories won in campaigns supported by Fund4Darfur:
Divestment from European Parliament
Following pressure from campaigners and MEPs the European Parliament’s pension fund has sold its shares in a company bankrolling the Sudanese regime.
Campaigners revealed that MEPs’ pension funds were invested in PetroChina/CNPC, one of the companies providing much of the revenue used by Sudan to finance its military and Janjaweed militia in Darfur. The move by MEPs follows a series of decisions by other pension funds and investment firms in Europe and the US to sell PetroChina/CNPC shares because of its role in Sudan. Glenys Kinnock, the MEP responsible for launching the campaign together with the Aegis Trust, said: “The sale of the stockholdings in PetroChina sends a very clear signal that the European Parliament abhors that company's links with a regime, which does little to end the violent conflict in Darfur.”
Dr James Smith said, “Actions go beyond words. The Aegis Trust hopes that other European parliaments and governments follow in their footsteps and send Sudan a financial message that the mass atrocities must stop. Now.” Commenting further, he said, “We welcome the European Parliament’s decision to join the growing ranks of investors exerting shareholder pressure on Sudan-linked companies. CNPC/PetroChina has resisted attempts to engage with it for four years. Instead it has continued to bankroll the Sudanese regime while it has attacked its own citizens. One by one, investors with a conscience have deserted PetroChina.”
To read the full Independent article click here.
On February 27, Aegis launched the Wanted for War Crimes campaign calling for the arrest of Ahmad Haroun and Ali Kushayb, suspected war criminals indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity in Darfur exactly one year earlier. The men are each wanted for over 40 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Since warrants for their arrest were issued by the International Criminal Court, neither man has been handed over to the ICC or prosecuted by Sudanese courts. Instead, Ali Kushayb has been freed from prison while Harun has remained in his post as State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and was appointed to co-chair a committee charged with investigating human rights complaints, including those committed in Darfur. As Minister he is responsible for those displaced by the violence in Darfur, and is also charged with liaising with the UNAMID peacekeeping force currently being deployed to protect those same people. Thus one of the chief suspects in an investigation into mass murder is now responsible for the fate of the survivors.
If you haven’t already done so, please visit wantedforwarcrimes.org and add your name to the call on heads of mission at the UN Security Council to secure the immediate arrest of these suspects. The campaign was launched with the support of over 50 organisations.
For more on this article and the text of Haroun’s interview click here,
Return to “scorched earth” policy in Darfur
The Aegis Trust, and other organizations with people on the ground in Darfur, have identified an increase in Sudanese government-backed military action in the region over recent months, with horrifying consequences for civilians. Estimates suggest that in the last few months alone a further 80,000 people have been displaced from their homes. "The tactics are exactly the same as those the government pursued right at the start of this conflict: aerial bombings, followed by sending in the militias to loot, kill and rape," said one source in Sudan. "It is as ruthless as in 2003."
To read the full report from The Independent click here.
26 Mar 08 - UN announces increase in attacks against aid workers in Darfur. Intolerable attacks against aid workers in Sudan’s Darfur jeopardize vital humanitarian operations in the war-wracked region, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator said today. To read the full article click here.
21 Mar 08 – Darfur attackers are in violation of international law, says UN. Recent attacks by militias and Sudanese government troops on West Darfur villages in which scores of people were killed and thousands displaced violated international humanitarian and human rights law, the UN has announced. To read the full article click here.
Day for Darfur
On 13 April, Journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Freedland will be compering the London rally marking the fifth global Day for Darfur, joined by politicians, activists, faith leaders and musicians from a range of backgrounds, protesting against the continuing atrocities in the region. Over the course of the demonstration we will be calling on all parties to work together to bring a peaceful end to the ethnic cleansing in Darfur, and to urge British politicians to work harder to ensure that UNAMID peace keepers are able to deploy fully as soon as possible. Those in the UK please join the demonstration outside the Sudanese Embassy, near St. James’ Park, from 12pm onwards.
Message from Darfuri survivors
“I would like to thank all those involved in the campaign against genocide, particularly Aegis…” “ …A lot of people are beginning to understand exactly what is happening in Darfur through your program.” - Fysal Omar, Darfuri survivor
Many thanks for your continued support,
Amy Harrison
Co-ordinator, Fund4Darfur
amy.harrison@fund4darfur.org
07951365001
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