Google Earth simulating Darfur

"When the Janjawid arrived, I took my daughter in my arms and ran away but I was shot in the leg and had to slow down. That is when my daughter Husna was shot."

--BB, the father of the three-year-old girl who was killed

Its not difficult to locate a path from one location to another using Google Earth. However, now Google is using its popular online mapping service to call attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan. With assistance from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Google Earth would now also focus on the atrocities caused in the Darfur which the United Nations estimates that more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in four years of carnage. If you focus over Darfur using Google Earth, the image will now be overlayed with icons indicating the extent to which a village has been destroyed. Further, details concerning the number of people displaced and refugees have also been mapped. More details in the form of downloads are available on per click basis. Sara Bloomfield, the museum's director, said museum staff members had approached Google about the project as they sought ways to highlight what they believe is genocide to many people who remain unaware. In Google Earth, which the company says has been downloaded by 200 million people worldwide, they found an ideal medium. Meanwhile, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir continues to deny of any such atrocities. United Nations has officially termed it as a genocide, but sadly other international organizations and nations have still failed to recognize the gravity of the situation. Here are a few snapshots regarding the same..