Darfur refugees wait for peace in Chadian exile

FARCHANA, Chad, July 27 (AFP) — A sea of tents in this remote Chadian area houses tens of thousands of refugees from Sudan’s stricken Darfur region, whose already dire state is likely to be worsened by the onset of the rainy season.

“I’ve been given nothing since I came here,” complained Adam Ahmat, who said he arrived in mid-June after fleeing rampages by government-backed Arab militia in his home village of Ardeba, across the border in Darfur.

Ahmat explained that he lives with his three wives and 15 children in a shack made of branches with a sheet of plastic serving as a roof. He said they were living off food they brought with them when they fled.

Their makeshift home is identical to many others in this camp that has taken in more than 30,000 people since it opened two months ago and sees dozens more arrive every day.

The UN refugee agency says it has trouble providing tents for all, leaving many to build their own shelters.

Men are few in number here. Most of the residents are women and children.

The women, dressed in bright robes that stand out against the predominantly brown landscape, cook in little pots on fires outside their shacks or tents, while children fetch water from wells or play on the dusty ground that will soon turn into mud when the rains come.

Seasonal heavy rains have already begun in much of Chad and are hampering efforts to bring aid to the estimated 200,000 Sudanese refugees now living in remote eastern areas of the country.

August is set to see the heaviest rains in the region.

Aid workers here fear that the rains will bring malaria, as the mosquitos who carry the disease thrive on humidity. Cholera is another major worry.

Humanitarian operations in Farchana camp were shut down in the camp in mid-July after aid workers were evacuated following a series of violent incidents.

At one point refugees stoned aid workers, for reasons which were unclear. A few days later two refugees were killed, again in unclear circumstances, when Chadian security forces entered the camp.

Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF – Doctors Without Borders) last Saturday restarted its operations in Farchana, where it deals mostly with cases of diarrheoa and respiratory infections as well as some cases of measles.

On Tuesday the World Food Programme was set to resume food handouts.

The conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region began in February 2003 with a rebel uprising against Khartoum, protesting that the largely black African region had been ignored by the Arab government.

In response, the pro-government Janjaweed and other militias went on the rampage, carrying out what aid and rights agencies have called a brutal and systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Up to 50,000 people have died and about 1.2 million have been displaced as a result of the conflict, with up to 200,000 people taking refuge across the border in Chad, according to UN officials.

Most of the refugees in Chad, like Adam Ahmat, say they cannot return home for fear of their lives.

“As long as there is no peace (in Darfur), we shall stay here,” Ahmat said.