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The Sudan, the largest
country in Africa,
lies where the Sahara Desert
meets the grasslands of the Sahel.
Its westernmost region is called Darfur.
Though small compared to
the rest of the Sudan,
the three provinces that make up Darfur
are nearly the size of France.
Far from the capital in Khartourn,
the region has been neglected for years
by the government.
Darfur means "Land of the Fur."
A Muslim African tribe indigenous to the area.
The region is inhabited by many tribes
that are racially and culturally
intertwined.
But despite these cultural similarities,
groups of farmers, who are viewed
as African
and groups of herders,
who are considered Arab,
have had clashes over the land for decades.
Droughts,
famines,
desertification
and population pressures
have added to the rising tensions.
Since 2003, rebel groups
have fought against the government
accusing it of supporting the Arab herders
over the African farmers.
The government's response caused a mass exodus
forcing villagers to become refugees
in their own homeland.
In this United Nations refugee camp
along the Chad-Sudan border,
the women and children here have found a safe haven
from the Janjawe, the armed militias
of Arab herders organized by the government
to fight the rebels and kill civilians.
Entire villages have been burned.
Hundreds of thousands have died.
Beatings, rapes
and mutilations are used as weapons of terror.
Around 2 million people
almost a third of Darfur's population
have fled their villages.
These refugees have lost everything.
But they are the lucky ones.
Most still wander the land unable to go home.
Their lives still at risk.
Though peace talks have been organized,
the fighting still continues.
And in Darfur the people are still dying.