Annan in Chad says more refugees could flee Darfur
By Patrick Muiruri
IRIBA, Chad, July 2 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned that even more refugees could flee fighting in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region into Chad as heavy rains begin, further worsening the humanitarian situation.
Around 200,000 have fled Darfur into neighbouring Chad and the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that some 10,000 people in the region could die of cholera and dysentery in July alone unless a massive aid operation could be set up.
“The president (Idriss Deby) has indicated that they have over 200,000 refugees from Sudan who are here. The number is growing and it is likely that during the rainy season even more will come,” Annan told reporters in the capital N’Djamena late on Thursday.
A rebellion broke out last year in Darfur after a long conflict between Arab nomads and African villagers, who accuse Khartoum of arming marauding Arab militias known as Janjaweed. Sudan’s government denies the charge.
The United Nations says two million people have been caught up in the fighting, creating what it calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Annan said on Friday that Khartoum had promised to protect black African refugees who fled from Sudan to neighbouring Chad if they returned home to the troubled Darfur region.
“We are having talks with the Sudanese government and they have agreed they will ensure security so that people are able to go back home,” Annan told refugees, aid workers and reporters at a camp in eastern Chad, 70 km (44 miles) from the Sudan border.
Many refugees say they are afraid to return home. They say far from being brought under control, the Janjaweed have made repeated incursions into Chad, looting and stealing animals.
Women and children in the camp near the remote town of Iriba, home to around 15,000 people, held up placards bearing the words “disarm and arrest the Janjaweed” and “no repatriation without peace” as Annan spoke with aid workers.
Annan visited a camp in Darfur itself on Thursday before travelling to Chad to meet Deby, whom he thanked for giving shelter to Darfur’s displaced thousands.
Highlighting the difficulty of establishing peace, rebel groups said on Friday they would not attend talks in N’Djamena with Sudan’s government because it had violated a ceasefire agreement. They also said Chad was not an impartial mediator.
Rights groups and U.S. officials say the Janjaweed are carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Khartoum says the Janjaweed are outlaws whom it will try to disarm.