External
Briefing Paper:
Chad's
Invisible Refugee Crisis
Over the
past months, refugees have been fleeing western Sudan into Chad. Reliable
figures are not yet available, but it is clear that they number in the
tens of thousands. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, did an assessment of
the situation at the end of August 2003. In reaction to this assessment
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) launched an emergency intervention in two
small border towns, Tine-Chad and Birak, which have received large numbers
of Sudanese refugees. These refugees continue to live in close proximity
to warfare, under extreme conditions. Many are acutely distressed by disturbing
memories. This briefing paper is only a short introduction. For more comprehensive
information, please contact Medecins Sans Frontieres directly on +32 2
4747487 or +32 2 4747486.
The Sudanese
refugees who have fled to Chad in the past months now find themselves
living in extremely harsh, drought-stricken conditions. As the majority
of the refugees are of the same ethnicity as the local population, they
could initially count on help from local communities upon arrival in Chad.
However, the region has limited and already over-stretched resources,
which are insufficient even for the local population. Local communities
therefore cannot provide sustained assistance to a significant refugee
population. In Tine-Chad, the refugees are partly regrouped into makeshift
camps; whereas in Birak they are dispersed over a large territory.
The weather conditions are extreme, with temperatures reaching above 40
degrees celsius during the daytime and dropping to less than 15 degrees
at night. There are barely any trees and therefore shade from the intense
sun is hard to find. Shelter consists of whatever people are able to find:
old torn rags, bits of plastic sheeting and short wooden sticks. These
constructions provide very little protection from the sun, rain, sand
storms and wind, nor from the extreme temperatures.
There is
no clean drinking water. Refugees must dig in sandy and empty riverbeds
with their bare hands, or with a small cup, in search of some water. Their
reward is a dirty brown liquid.
Food is
scarce. The majority of the refugees were not able to take any food reserves
with them when they fled and only a lucky few managed to bring some cattle.
To date, no distribution of food or non-food items (blankets, jerry-cans,
cooking pots, hygiene kits, etc.) has taken place. MSF staff working in
the health centres see increasing malnutrition; in only the first three
days of consultations they received over twenty severely malnourished
children under the age of five. An ongoing nutritional assessment is currently
being carried out by MSF.
Without
exception, the refugees are traumatised by the violence they have been
subjected to. Many no longer have the emotional strength to do anything
except lie in the sand day and night, letting events unfold around them.
Forced
to flee
Refugees
recount terrible stories of their flight from their home towns and villages.
They sketch a grim picture of extreme violence in Darfur province, western
Sudan.
Refugees
in Tine-Chad told of continuous bombardments.
"In
Tine there were many planes with bombs. One day they came in the morning
and in the evening, another day they came at midday. The plane made me
very scared because it came all the time. Children were also very afraid
of the planes. I have those planes all the time in my head during the
day and during night time."
There are
also many stories about humiliation by soldiers.
"I
saw soldiers cutting the hair of a woman. They told her that she was the
wife of the enemy. The soldiers broke glass to cut the hair of the woman
in order for her to look like a man."
Though
often described in disguised terms, it is clear that many women and girls
are victims of rape.
"Many
girls are being taken by the Arab tribes and by soldiers. The soldiers
hit the girls and make bad habits to them. They can take the girls and
say that they are their wives."
Harassment
has become a daily routine.
"Armed
soldiers can stop you at any moment, they can take your lorry and then
they go away. They take people's money or they take the women."
Some talk
of people being tortured.
"Many
people in Tine-Sudan were arrested and being accused of being rebels.
They were tortured and their eyes were put out. They used electric sticks.",
Villages
are attacked systematically. Houses and fields are burned.
"Arabs
came and took everything and burnt our village. They came early in the
morning; they came on horses and killed all the men."
Many stories
describe how people are murdered on a large scale.
"Even
the women were killed and even small boys they kill. My husband was killed
as well."
Background:
The conflict in western Sudan
In mid-February
2003, Darfur tribes of African origin set up a rebellion movement, the
Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), and created a new armed group, the Sudan
Liberation Army (SLA). This rebellion took up arms against the policies
of Sudan's central government. The SLM feels that policies from Khartoum
continuously exploit Darfur's local resources, discriminate against its
African population and support Arab tribes against other populations in
the region. As a consequence, the people of Western Sudan feel marginalized,
resulting in armed confrontation with central authorities. This conflict
resulted in the SLA taking control of large parts of west Darfur earlier
this year.
Since the
signing of the Machakos Protocol on the 20th of July 2002, a peace process
has been on-going in Sudan. Unfortunately this peace process, under the
auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority of Development , is a two-party
framework, which does not take into account other conflicts in Sudan like
the one in Darfur. It is a process which only concerns the Government
of the Republic of Sudan (the Khartoum government) and an alliance of
rebel movements from Southern Sudan, lead by the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement (SPLM) / Sudan's People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
The first
offensives of the SLA in Darfur, on Al Fasher, Kutum and Melit, were met
with a military response by the government that escalated during the summer
of 2003. This military response, mainly air bombardments, is being backed
up by systematic attacks by Arab militias who seek to crush the rebellion
and terrorise the villagers. Khartoum and the SLA agreed upon a 45 day
ceasefire on 6th September 2003. However, despite this, the bombing and
burning of villages has continued.
It is these
confrontations that have been responsible for the killing and displacement
of thousands of civilians and that have forced people to seek security
in neighbouring Chad. Sudanese refugees have been arriving in Eastern
Chad since Spring 2003 and more steadily during the summer. They are scattered
over a 600km stretch of the Chadian-Sudanese border.
Currently,
the refugees - most of whom are women and children - receive only little
assistance. They remain close to the border, on the other side of which
warfare continues. They are in dire need of assistance and protection
against violence.
MSF's
intervention
On
the 6th of September MSF launched its intervention with an assessment
in the Biltine region of northern Chad. This was soon followed by operations
in the desert towns of Tine and Birak, where MSF sent a team of 12 people
with 40 tonnes of assistance material on the 17th September. MSF opened
a health centre in Tine-Chad on the 25th September and a Therapeutic Feeding
Centre for malnourished children on the 29th September. Apart from malnutrition,
the most frequent health problems currently seen in Tine-Chad are diarrhoea
and respiratory infections.
In
Birak, where malaria is currently the most pressing health problem, MSF
opened a health centre on the 29th September.
MSF
is extremely concerned about the lack of assistance and protection for
Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad. For more information, please contact
Medecins Sans Frontieres directly on +32 2 4747487 or +32 2 4747486
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