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"In one of the refugee camps in Chad in 2005, we met Fatima, 42, who described how she had to escape her village of Girgira in western Darfur after her mother, husband, and five children were all killed by the Janjaweed militias. She said she feared the government would kill her as well. In desperation, she walked for seven days to a refugee camp. She couldn't walk during daytime hours because of the Janjaweed gangs. She hid under trees and plants. Despite all this, she wants to return home, but she wants to be sure it is safe. Having lost everything, she no longer trusts anyone, even the African Union troops deployed in Darfur. In a horrible turn of events, African Union peacekeeping troops were also subject to the violence in Darfur. In January, 2006, thirty Senegalese peacekeepers were attacked in Fatima's village, Girgira, after delivering a truck to another location. The Khartoum government blamed Chad or Chad-backed rebels, while Chad's government said Sudanese government forces were behind the attack. Omda Yhyh, a tribal leader we talked with from Tine, also saw all his children die in a violent raid on his town and in the subsequent escape to "safety." His town, he says, was attacked by men on horseback, planes dropping bombs and armies on foot. He fled with many of his tribe, and after more than 15 days of walking without food or drink, they arrived at a refugee camp. "We lost our village. They burned it. If we get all our possessions back, then after that we can go back. But now we don't think it is safe to go back." We walked among the rows of refugees in Amnibak refugee camp in eastern Chad, under the harsh desert sun, amid shacks constructed from sticks, plastic and earth. Don tried to imagine what all these people had seen and felt. But it is unimaginable. Much like when he stood next to Paul Rusesabagina in Toronto at the film festival, he felt very small and humbled. One man, finishing his afternoon prayers, was restrained with metal shackles because he had been so traumatized by the bomb attacks on his village that he kept running into the desert, into danger and certain death. As if it might help make us understand better, some of the refugees had drawn posters, illustrating the ground and air attacks that drove them off of their land and into this place. At the camp, water only comes from taps near the edge of the settlement, and bread comes from grain that is ground daily. Mud is mixed to keep walls of huts strong against the wind and the desert winter's biting cold. |
 Refugee Camp, Amnibak |
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Learn more about the crisis in Darfur, and other cases of mass atrocities, and how the world is responding.
ENOUGH
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