What About Our Grandparents?

The culture in Darfur dictates the the elderly be cared for by their surrounding extended family, and that they be respected and revered when living in their villages. Millions of Dafurians are now, however, struggling for survival in dreadful camps for internally displaced civilians, and according to HelpAge International, 8% of those civilians are older people. They can no longer be cared for by their families because they have been separated from them, by death or by distance. In fact, the elderly population in Darfur's growing refugee camps often care for the younger generations, despite their old age, often failing health, and emotional anguish at having lost nearly everything. One 80 year old woman told a representative of HelpAge International that "If I go go back there is no home, there are no animals, and the people I know are gone and killed. Who can I sit with?".

A recent HelpAge International report, "Rebuilding Lives in Longer-Term Emergencies", points out that the elderly community is often marginalized by international aid groups, which have limitied capabilities with which to save the lives of small children and their mothers. (http://www.helpage.org/Resources/Researchreports/main_content/oT8a/RebuildingLives.pdf) Elderly people, along with tiny children, are often thrown into flames alive by Janjaweed and government forces, in addition to their daily struggles to resist starvation and to care for their grandchildren. The elderly are not immune to violent and brutal attacks. As one 68 year old woman put it, "During the conflict I was beaten with sticks and all my family was killed in front of me. I stayed two days with dead bodies. Now the situation has only worsened. We can't move freely. We don't have work. It's very bad".

So much emphasis is, rightfully so, placed on the terrors of gang rape aimed at young women, even girls as young as 8. Yet the trials of the aging population of Darfur are not much heard about: indeed, the ignorance and apathy regarding this genocide in general is rampant among those who can easily change it. Words will not save these lives, young or old.

The United Nations must back up their words about Darfur, and in so doing, Russia and China must be convinced to support the end of Al-Bashir's regime in Sudan. He and many others must be brought before the International Criminal Court, not only for war crimes, but for the crime of genocide. The United Nations needs to demonstrate that it is unified and serious beyond words and ineffective sanctions. The National Redemption Front (a new coalition of rebel forces) and the Khartoum government must be led to the negotiating table by unrelenting international pressure that is backed up by a strong United Nations peacekeeping force. Not only is stopping genocide mandated by international law, but it is, first and foremost, the imperative of humanity to protect the sanctity of life everywhere. Only when we as human beings unite to bring about an end to the slaughters will HelpAge International be able to report that the elderly population in Darfur is afflicted only by the joy of seeing their grandchildren grow up.