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Session Details
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| Guest Name |
Dr. Mansour Muhammed Hassan
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| Subject |
Humanitarian Crisis in Darfur: Eyewitness Account
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| Date |
Thursday,Jul 29 ,2004
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Time |
Mecca
From...
05:00...To...
20:00
GMT
From... 02:00...To...17:00
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| Name |
- Host
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| Profession |
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| Question |
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| Answer |
The session has just started. Please feel free to join us with your questions.
After the session has ended you will find the whole dialogue in the 'recent sessions' list.
Yours,
Islamonline Live Dialogue Editing Desk
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| Name |
Areen
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Is the state in Darfur really a crisis? or is there a relevant amount of exaggeration in the media?
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| Answer |
There
is no crisis in Darfur. The region is accustomed to such a situation.
The region is a tribal region. The situation now regarding the medical
state is not bad. There are no epidemics. There is no mass killing, as
they say. There is no rape. And the tribes, currently displaced in
refugee camps, are living in an environment similar to their normal
lifestyle.
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| Name |
Lotfi
- Malaysia
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Assalamu 'alaykum wr wb br Dr Mansour...
Could you tell us what actually happened in Darfur? What is causing
the problems there... or rather, what are the problems there?
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| Answer |
The cause of the problem in Darfur is:
1. The Sudanese government does not have enough control in the
region of Darfur, and has not sent enough forces to the area for
protection.
2. There is a problem between the tribes that live on agriculture,
and the tribes that live on herding. The green region is now facing
desertification and scarcity of water that has led this problem to
start appearing. The tribes that live on agriculture and those that
live on herding both are fighting over the land. In 1960, the system of
sultanates in Sudan came to an end. So a security problem evolved, and
armed gangs appeared. This led to the formation of militias for each
and every tribe. Thus each tribe began to try to obtain arms from
abroad.
3. Rebels started to appear that tried to control the region, which
forced the Sudanese government to provide weapons to the nearest group
in order to secure the region. The Sudanese government, was of course,
involved in the situation in the south of Sudan, and had no other means
to protect the Darfur region other than to do this. This led to the
appearance of the Janjaweed.
4. There are no proper development projects in the region.
5. The forces supported by the Sudanese government, the Janjaweed,
due to their misuse of their power, resulted in the displacement of a
large number of tribes living on agriculture to refugee camps.
This story has frequently recurred in Sudan along the years. Tribes
in this region in Sudan frequently fight with each other. So the
situation is not a new one in the region, nor is it one unheard of.
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| Name |
Mariam
- United States
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Are enough relief agencies present to cover the situation in Darfur
and Sudan in general? How many relief agencies are at work? Which
relief agencies are at work? How many agencies are from Muslim
countries?
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| Answer |
The
first and only Islamic relief agency to reach Darfur was the mission
sent by Egypt's Medical Doctors' Syndicate that I was honored to head.
This was between July 2 - 23, 2004.
We are also planning on sending 3 - 4 more missions to the region within the next month.
This mission was very well-received by the people and government of
Sudan. They are all asking, where is the Islamic world, and where are
the Arab countries and where is Egypt?
We met about 18 other relief agencies while we were there. They
were all from either Europe or North America. Like the Red Cross,
Medicins Sans Frontiers, Child Care, Med Care, and others.
The people of Sudan are in dire need of relief from the Arab and
Islamic countries, because neither Arab or Muslim countries have an
'agenda' in the region.
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| Name |
Tarek
- Lebanon
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| Profession |
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| Question |
What are the conditions inside the refugee camps of Darfur? How
many people in each camp? Do the camps have enough facilities for all
the people? Do they all have water and food enough for the refugees?
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| Answer |
There
are about one million displaced people in Darfur. Some refugee camps
are inside Sudan, and others are in Chad. The number of people in
refugee camps ranges between 3000 - 80,000 per camp.
Water is available, food is available. But the camps will soon in the future need to be supplied with more food.
The people in the camp need more medical care, especially they need the support of central hospitals.
The conditions inside the camps are under control. Security is also
good in the camps. There are absolutely no cases of violence in the
camps.
The Sudanese government has been accused of the ethnic cleansing of
the tribes of African origin, and this is not true. The proof of this
is that the Sudanese government has provided the camps, which contain
for the most part people from the African tribes, with forces for
protection, in addition to food, water and treatment. So how could they
be accused of killing them?
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| Name |
Mike
- United Kingdom
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Doctor,
What were the most common diseases you witnessed in the refugee camps I assume you visited?
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| Answer |
I would like to emphasize once more that the camps were free from epidemics.
There are cases of gastroenteritis, chest infection, eye
infections, and nutritional diseases. Goitre (enlargement of the
thyroid gland) is also very common due to the absence of iodine in the
region.
Two eye diseases are also very common in the region, and these are cataract and glaucoma.
Malaria and leishmaniasis are also common in the region as a whole.
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| Name |
Ahmed
- Jordan
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| Profession |
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| Question |
I was very supprised to know that Muslims went to Darfur to treat
patients, as I had impression that only non-muslim doctors were going
which was very disappointing. How many muslim medical missions have
been to Darfur? Was it easy for u to get permission to go? Why aren't
other Mulsim countries doing what u r doing?
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| Answer |
It
is easier for non-governmental organizations to decide to send relief
agencies than it is for governments to do so. And governments are very
much in support of such missions.
The Sudanese government asked us to invite all Islamic and Arab organizations to help in solving the situation in Darfur.
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| Name |
Janette
- Australia
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Hello,
We've heard from the media that the number of rape cases in Darfur
has been very high. Have you seen this to be the case? What is being
done to help these women overcome the psychological trauma they have
been through?
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| Answer |
We
saw NO cases of rape during our visit to the refugee camps in Darfur.
During our stay, we interacted with 200,000 refugees in 8 refugee
camps, amongst which there was not one case of rape.
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| Name |
George
- Germany
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| Profession |
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| Question |
I was wondering what the most common types of wounds are found
amongst the refugess of Darfur. I think this would be indicative of the
type and form of violence is going on in the region.
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| Answer |
During our visit, we didn't see even one case of a new wound. The most recent case was that of a 6-month-old gunshot wound.
The situation in the region is now relatively stable.
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| Name |
ejaz
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| Profession |
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| Question |
If there is no crisis then why is there so much exaggeration in the
media? in the UK we see daily reports of famine, hundreds of thousands
displaced and a 'humanitarian disaster' as stated by the UN. What is
really going on over there?
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| Answer |
The
situation in Darfur is a political one. It is for the benefit of many
agencies and governments for the situation there to continue and to
appear larger than normal. Everyone according to their own agenda.
Governments pressure other governments for various reasons (due to the presence of oil in the region for example).
Some of the pictures we see in the media are actually from Somalia and other areas in the continent.
Also, some of what you may be seeing could be in Chad, and we have
not yet visited Chad. All my comments are related to the refugee camps
in Darfur.
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| Name |
Charles
- Malawi
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| Profession |
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| Question |
ARe you aware about the natural resources present in the Darfur region? What kinds of natural resources do they have?
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| Answer |
The most important natural resource in Darfur is agriculture that depends on rain. Darfur is also rich in breeding animals.
There are signs that oil can be extracted in the region.
Uranium is also present in the region.
One of the most beautiful mountains in the world, Murrah Mountain,
is present in Darfur. The mountain has rare species of animals and
plants, and many, varied sources of water. This mountain is full of
greenery and extremely beautiful.
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| Name |
Safia
- Somalia
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Salaamu alaikum,
What's happening in Darfour is sad, reminds me of what happened in
Somalia, Muslims killing Muslims. The aftermath? Anarchy, loss of life
and wealth, and loss of dignity. My question is: is this what the
Sudanese government wishing on it's citizens?
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| Answer |
The
Sudanese goverment did not involve itself directly in this problem.
This problem is for the most part a tribal problem. Western powers are
trying to use this problem to their own benefit, similar to what
happened in Somalia.
Somalia taught the Americans a hard lesson. They were heros and
prevented the Americans from interfering in Somalia's national issues.
It is a good time now for Muslims to play an active role in solving their own problems.
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| Name |
Ismail
- United Arab Emirates
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| Profession |
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| Question |
I heard that the situation in Darfur is not as bad as the media
tend to portray, and that Western countries have a specific intention
in exaggerating the picture. Is this true? Why would they want to
exaggerate the picture? What could they gain?
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| Answer |
Western
countries want to divide Sudan into about four parts. An example is the
situation in southern Sudan. This is in order to gain control over the
source of the River Nile and the recently discovered oil in Sudan.
Another reason is that they would like to weaken Egypt's southern
border, that is currently strong due to the strength of its relations
with neighboring Sudan. Any conflict at this border weakens Egypt's
strength in this area.
The West is also arousing a sense of tribalship in the region,
between African Sudanese and Arab Sudanese, that was not present
previously.
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| Name |
Jamzuri
- Malaysia
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Are the fighting rivals between Muslims and Christians or among muslims?
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| Answer |
The
inhabitants of this region are 100% Muslims, and there are no
Christians living there. Many of the people in this region have the
whole Qur'an memorized.
The fighting in the region is thus between Muslims and Muslims.
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| Name |
Paul
- United States
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| Profession |
lawyer
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| Question |
Dear Sir, I have become very interested in Islam and have pondering
whether it is the religion for me. I have Muslims friends who patiently
try to persuade me and non-muslim friends who try to dissaude me. One
issue that troubles me is some that my friends who try to dissaude me
point out. They say that Muslims don't appear to be consistent. There
is an obligation of all Muslims to call others to Islam (da'wah) but
then when Christians seek to prosylitize among Muslims in Africa or
other places, Muslims term that aggression. They ask me why is it ok
for Muslims to seek converts among Christians but wrong for Christians
to seek converts among Muslims. What should I tell them?
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| Answer |
It is acceptable for any one who belongs to any religion to talk about his religion.
But using the financial situation, or the socio-economic situation,
or the educational system, or a situation of conflict of a people in
prosylitizing is not acceptable.
May Allah give you guidance to accept Islam as a religion.
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| Name |
Jay
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| Profession |
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| Question |
Why are the Arabs killing people? I presume its because they
believe that they are superior to the noble Africans i.e. inherent Arab
racism...
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| Answer |
The
situation in Darfur is not as you say. The evidence of this is that
amongst the rebels, there are African Sudanese and Arab Sudanese and
Southern Sudanese. Also, the conflict in the region is between African
Sudanese and African Sudanese, and African Sudanese and Arab Sudanese.
Historically, the Masaalit tribe fought another African tribe known
as the Fur tribe in four separate wars, and both tribes are African
tribes. This current situation is relatively new and its origin is not
exactly known, however its origin not an Arab-African conflict. Just as
the situation in the south of Sudan is not a Christian-Muslim conflict.
On the contrary, it is a conflict only due to development (or lack of
it).
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| Name |
Aman
- Canada
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| Profession |
Student
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| Question |
Salam aliekum
It is well known that many Christian missionaries are sinisterly
using this oppurtunity to proselytize the darfuri muslims who are
currently in a state of shock due to the barbaric attrocities they have
gone through due to the Janjaweed. Their vulnerability might even give
the missionaries success. What are the muslim clerics in the arab world
doing about it? Does your organization have the skills ready to counter
the proselytization?
Jazakallah
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| Answer |
Our
mission is purely medical and humanitarian. But inshallah we will be
sure to inform Al-Azhar of your opinion, and we thank you for your
correct observations that proselytization is occuring in the region.
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