In Conversation - Darfur
Liz Hodgkin fears the conflict could get worse
Friday, 09, Nov 2007 04:43
In a place where tragedy runs into millions, individuals are everything.
For the first of a series of interviews looking at how people try to shape the world from their desks in Britain, InTheNews' Alex Stevenson discusses with Liz Hodgkin the daily pressures of working on one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The problem
Instability in Darfur, Sudan's most western province, has been one of the biggest thorns in the international community's conscience since 2003. At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the last five years in the region, after government-backed militias forced millions into refugee camps in their pursuit of a variety of rebel groups. The situation remains complex and readers can follow recent developments by clicking here but, overall, the weight of overwhelming anecdotal evidence is clear: rape, pillage, murder and ethnic cleansing have forced many to flee for their lives.
The person
Trying to do her bit in the fight for change in Darfur is Liz Hodgkin, Amnesty International's researcher on the region. She has worked for Amnesty, a worldwide campaigner for internationally recognised human rights, for nearly two decades on different areas of Africa. Having begun in 1989 on the upheavals of Morocco at that time, she transferred to concentrate on Sudan in 2003 and now spends her days documenting evidence of human rights violations.
Her attitude is simple: "What I think Amnesty is trying to do is to keep the importance of the individual.
"What we are fighting for is the protection of civilians in Darfur and an end to the violations of human rights law."
The current situation
On the face of it, prospects for improvements in Darfur appear to be looking up. The United Nations peacekeeping force of 27,000 troops is expected to be fully deployed sometime next year and peace talks are currently underway in Libya.
But despite the apparent positive momentum, Ms Hodgkin says she is deeply concerned by the multilayered conflicts blighting the region. She believes this threatens a further deterioration from the current, already terrible, conditions.
"Because of the complexity of the situation I can't say things are looking up," she said.
"Already in the next province, there are signs the violence appears to be spreading. Roads which could be travelled on in 2004 are no longer safe. And the proliferation of arms is a major problem.
"One person we spoke to said there is a timeline of one year for a solution to Darfur. The situation could get worse."
The problems are many. A lack of control on arms means fighters are all-too-easily supplied with the weaponry they need to continue the conflict. Ethnic conflicts are rife: Arabs fighting non-Arabs, infighting between rebel groups, infighting between government forces and the militias they support. Perhaps worst of all, the challenges faced by the peacekeeping force are immense.
To continue reading the interview, click here