“States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions” - Noam Chomsky

Today marks a very special day in the blogoshpere. Not only is 2008 the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), BlogCatalog and Amnesty International have teamed up to initiate another Bloggers Unite Challenge. It’s an invitation for all bloggers to come together and express their concerns, opinions and the importance of human rights. The philosophy is that people, even a small thoughtful group, can and do influence the community and institutions.

The UDHR states no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. This leads me to talk about a subject I’m passionate about - refugees. I used to teach english to Sudanese refugees who had fled their country due to the war in Darfur. Although I played the part of the teacher, I, in fact, learnt more from my students. I had to car-pool four children aged from 7 - 16 years old. When we happened to drive past a police officer or police car, the youngest would hide and become extremely scared and anxious, obviously conditioned from their experiences in Sudan. The older children would yell abuse in Arabic. It makes you wonder what exactly had happened to them, although we were trained not to probe our students with questions which involved the war because it’s such a delicate issue. I guess we didn’t need to probe as their actions spoke louder than words, although I did have a concern that they had no emotional outlet…

Photo by Tom

The war in Darfur has been raging since 2003 and unlike previous wars in Sudan, it isn’t based on religion, but many interwoven causes. Sudan’s Arab-dominated government is accused of rallying Arab tribal fighters to help quash two non-Arab rebel groups that launched attacks on military targets in February 2003, complaining of neglect and discrimination by the government. The political struggle touched off traditional tensions between the two groups which surround water and land rights. With fertile soil diminishing around 10km a year, the competition is even more aggressive.

Some 2,700 villages have been destroyed, and as a result of the violence and the related starvation and disease, some 250,000 Sudanese have died, most in 2003 and 2004, and another two million have fled to refugee camps. The bloodletting has been deemed by the United States as government-backed genocide, and the United Nations calls it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Although some recent reports conclude the crisis is ’simmering’ (based on the number of deaths), we’re left with the millions of stranded refugees. Of the four million people affected by the conflict in Darfur, 1.8 million are children under 18. Not only that, but we’re left with a generation of Darfuris growing up in extreme fear and insecurity and the lack of access to education is jeopardising their future. In the April that just passed, children in Darfur reaching their fifth birthdays will have never known peace.

Action to Save Darfur is being undertaken by many heroic charities and organisations, but you too can help. Kristof wrote an interesting article outlining ways in which you can take action. You can also help via Amnesty International by signing a petition. I also urge you to show your support by signing the online Universal Declaration of Human Rights at The Elders: Every Human Has Rights. Even just talking or writing about your concerns is a form of action. As Jane Goodall once said, “above all we must realize that each of us makes a difference with our life. Each of us impacts the world around us every single day. We have a choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place - or not to bother”

Big love & hope,