Darfur’s “Generation X”

A new political force is gaining power in Darfur. It is the “shabab” – young men and adolescents residing in refugee camps across the region.

Increasingly angry and outspoken about their uncertain fate, the generation that came of age in the camps is challenging the traditional sheiks, upending the age-old authority structure of their tribal society and complicating efforts to achieve peace.

You cannot call them a unified group with one political ideology, but they are all angry. That is the factor unifying them.

The shabab have a right to be angry. They have had their entire lives ripped out from under them, their existence is in a constant state of upheaval, and there is no guarantee that they will live to see tomorrow.

We should not call the shabab’s actions right or wrong – just simply understandable. A person cannot go through war and emerge unscathed.