Darfur villages are being burned to the ground.
UN staff visiting a village in western Darfur heard that 200 families had been forced to flee by the government-backed Janjaweed militia a year ago.
Last week, local people said, the militia returned and set fire to the village. It had been reduced to ashes, the UN staff said.
The refugee agency says that in October and November of last year about 55 abandoned villages near the town of Masteri were burned to the ground.
If the practice has resumed and continues, aid workers fear, Darfur's social and demographic structure will be changed for ever.
It is disheatening to hear from Joel that people's short attention has turned from the victims of the Asian tsunami just a few months after the worst natural disaster in centuries. I fear that the same is happening among many in the West who have been outraged and brokenhearted over the conflict in Darfur. For many months, we have heard the stories and nothing is happening. How long before we lose interest and turn away? How long before you give up hope and quit caring? How many people have to die before you act?
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