Kalma is a relocation camp in the Darfur region of Sudan. It is located 17 kilometers outside of Nyala, Sudan. [1] It is estimated that there were over 90,000 residents in the camp in 2007. [2] Most, if not all, of the residents are there because of the violence caused by the Darfur conflict. [3]
Nyala is a city and the capital of the state of South Darfur in the south-west of Sudan, with an estimated population of 1,100,000 in 2024.
Darfur is a region of western Sudan. Dār is an Arabic word meaning "home [of]" – the region was named Dardaju while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë c. 350 AD, and it was renamed Dartunjur when the Tunjur ruled the area. Darfur was an independent sultanate for several hundred years until 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr. The region was later invaded and incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. As an administrative region, Darfur is divided into five federal states: Central Darfur, East Darfur, North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur. Because of the War in Darfur between Sudanese government forces and the indigenous population, the region has been in a state of humanitarian emergency and genocide since 2003. The factors include religious and ethnic rivalry, and the rivalry between farmers and herders.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army is a Sudanese rebel group active in Darfur, Sudan. It was founded as the Darfur Liberation Front by members of three indigenous ethnic groups in Darfur: the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masalit, among whom were the leaders Abdul Wahid al-Nur of the Fur and Minni Minnawi of the Zaghawa.
The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) was an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force operating primarily in the country's western region of Darfur to perform peacekeeping operations related to the Darfur conflict. It was founded in 2004, with a force of 150 troops. By mid-2005, its numbers were increased to about 7,000. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1564, AMIS was to "closely and continuously liaise and coordinate ... at all levels" its work with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). AMIS was the only external military force in Sudan's Darfur region until UNAMID was established. It was not able to effectively contain the violence in Darfur. A more sizable, better equipped UN peacekeeping force was originally proposed for September 2006, but due to Sudanese government opposition, it was not implemented at that time. AMIS' mandate was extended repeatedly throughout 2006, while the situation in Darfur continued to escalate, until AMIS was replaced by UNAMID on 31 December 2007.
The Chadian Civil War of 2005–2010 began on December 18, 2005. Since its independence from France in 1960, Chad has been swamped by civil wars between the Arab-Muslims of the north and the Sub-Saharan-Christians of the south. As a result, leadership and presidency in Chad drifted back and forth between the Christian southerners and Muslim northerners. When one side was in power, the other side usually started a revolutionary war to counter it.
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
Tama are a non-Arab, African ethnic group of people who live in eastern Chad and western Sudan. They speak Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. The population is 200,000–300,000 people and they practice Islam. Many Tama are subsistence farmers who live in permanent settlements and some raise livestock. In the civil war in Chad the Tama were involved in ethnic conflicts with the Zaghawa tribe.
The Save Darfur Coalition was an advocacy group that attempted "to raise public awareness and mobilize a massive response to the atrocities in Sudan's western region of Darfur." Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it was a coalition of more than 190 religious, political, and human rights organizations organized to campaign for a response to the atrocities of the War in Darfur, which culminated in a humanitarian crisis. By 2013, reports indicated that the conflict had claimed approximately 300,000 lives and had displaced over 2.5 million people.
While there is a consensus in the international community that ethnic groups have been targeted in Darfur and that crimes against humanity have therefore occurred, there has been debate in some quarters about whether genocide has taken place there. In May 2006, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur organized by United Nations "concluded that the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide ... [though] international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be more serious and heinous than genocide." Eric Reeves, a researcher and frequent commentator on Darfur, has questioned the methodology of the commission's report.
Sudanese refugees are people originating from the country of Sudan, seeking refuge outside the borders of their native country. In recent history, Sudan has been the stage for prolonged conflicts and civil wars, as well as environmental changes, namely desertification. These forces have resulted not only in violence and famine but also the forced migration of large numbers of the Sudanese population, both inside and outside the country's borders. Given the expansive geographic territory of Sudan, and the regional and ethnic tensions and conflicts, much of the forced migration in Sudan has been internal. Yet, these populations are not immune to similar issues that typically accompany refugeedom, including economic hardship and providing themselves and their families with sustenance and basic needs. With the creation of a South Sudanese state, questions surrounding southern Sudanese IDPs may become questions of South Sudanese refugees.
By January 2011 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there are 262,900 Sudanese refugees in Chad. The majority of them left Sudan escaping from the violence of the ongoing Darfur crisis, which began in 2003. UNHCR has given the Sudanese refugees shelter in 12 different camps situated along the Chad–Sudan border. The most pressing issues UNHCR has to deal with in the refugee camps in Chad are related to insecurity in the camps,, malnutrition, access to water, HIV and AIDS, and education.
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
Marta Ruedas is a United Nations civil servant who has worked in many countries around the world, initially with the United Nations Development Programme, including Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Georgia, Nepal, Mongolia and Mexico, as well as at its headquarters in New York. The organization assists countries in reaching their targets in economic and social development. In 2015 she was the Country Director of the UNDP in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2007 in Sudan.
The Darfur genocide was the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people during the War in Darfur. The genocide, which was carried out against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict several people for crimes against humanity, rape, forced transfer and torture. An estimated 200,000 people were killed between 2003 and 2005.
The 2022 Sudan floods saw the figure for flood-affected people in Sudan had exceeded the figure for 2021, rising to 314,500. From 2017 to 2021, there were 388,600 people affected by floods annually.
The Battle of Kutum was a conflict during the War in Sudan which occurred in and around the town of Kutum in North Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces quickly overran the city, and carried out massacres in the city and the neighboring Kassab IDP camp. The group then attacked neighboring villages in early June.
Konga Haraza is a village located 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan, near the Chad–Sudan border.
Beginning on April 21, 2022, clashes broke out between Janjaweed and Masalit civilians in the Kreinik refugee camp near El Geneina, West Darfur. These led to massacres over the following days by Janjaweed and the Rapid Support Forces, with hundreds of civilians killed.
The Zamzam refugee camp is one of the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Sudan, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Al-Fashir, North Darfur. It was established in 2004 to accommodate the massive influx of people displaced by the war in Darfur. As of now, the camp houses approximately 500,000 displaced individuals. In the light of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), the camp is currently facing severe humanitarian challenges, including a catastrophic malnutrition crisis. Conditions have deteriorated to the point where famine-like situations have emerged, with reports of high child mortality rates, and experts describe the crisis as man-made and preventable.