Refugees’ life as important as power-sharing in Sudan: AU official

ADDIS ABABA, July 04, 2004 (Xinhua) — As the African Union (AU) is actively engaged in the political resolution of western Sudan’s Darfur crisis, the one million displaced Darfur refugees are now facing a rain season, which puts their life in refugee camps in dire situation.

The AU’s commissioner of social affairs Bience Gawanas said Sunday the life of women and children in the camps should also be considered in the peace process. Gawanas, who spent 12 years as a refugee herself, questioned on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the AU in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa that “is it enough doing the peace negotiations if the people, the children,the women are not part of that process, and whether we should not be concerned about their lives as we are concerned about power sharing at the end of the day ?”

Since western Sudan’s indigenous revolt against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government broke out in February 2003, over onemillion Darfur people were chased out of their homes by pro-government Arab-militia, who adopted a scorched land policy and carried out a campaign described as “bordering ethnic cleansing.”

Terrified by the well-armed, horse or camel riding militia called the Janjaweed, Darfur people went all the way to avoid being killed or raped “systematically,” as the human rights group called it. The refugees went with destinations including deserts inside neighboring Chad, described by one report as “one of the most inhospitable areas on Earth.”

Nearly 200,000 Sudanese refugees now live in camps in Chad. TheUnited Nations did what they could, rushing to build makeshift shelters to accommodate the refugees pouring through the long borders between the Sudan and Chad. They now operate 137 camps forthe Sudanese refugees, in which some of the refugees have lived for over 16 months.

As the rains arrive in July, humanitarian agencies fear outbreaks of hunger and disease, especially in the most distant and vulnerable parts of Darfur. The refugees in these camps lack access to clean drinking water or sanitation, and could be hit hard by epidemics such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery and malariaduring the rainy season.

“We anticipate that if things go ahead as they are at this moment, 10,000 people will die in the next month,” a rights group worker was quoted as saying.

As Darfur crisis draws more and more intention in recent months,the situation of the refugees are also getting into spotlight. US Secretary of State Colin Powell and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan made back-to-back trip to the Darfur region in late June and early July, visiting refugees in camps and getting first-hand information on ground. Annan toured a camp in Darfur and talked with elders and women, listening to their counts of attacks by the Janjaweed. Powell also walked through a refugee camp sheltering about 40,000 people.

“We are anxious to see an end to militarism out here,” Powell said. “We are anxious to see the Janjaweed brought under control and disarmed so people can leave the camps in safety and go back to their villages.”

The AU also made efforts to bring the refugees home, with high level officials visiting the camps in Darfur, assessing the situation there and providing grounds for what the bloc will act next. But the refugees couldn’t return until the Janjaweed is disarmed and a ceasefire maintained in Darfur, as many of the refugees are afraid to venture outside the camps or to return home,afraid that they will be killed by the Janjaweed.

The process went into full swing as the AU launched a ceasefirecommittee in the Chad’s capital Ndjamena, providing parties of theDarfur crisis a chance to sit down and talk. However, as Gawanas pointed out, the AU must take into consideration of the refugees’ situation, as they are the most affected in the Darfur crisis.