Georgina Newman: Desperate times on edge of a desolate landscape

COMMENT

At last the world is heeding the human tragedy being played out in Sudan. The Dafur genocide, with half a million people butchered and a million more driven from their homes in terror, is starting to demand the same international condemnation as Rwanda did a decade before.

However, as the Government in Sudan squirms under international scrutiny, the plight of its poorer, eastern neighbour of Chad is going largely unnoticed.

In Sudan, murder, rape and intimidation by Arab Janjaweed militia continues unabated, despite the expiry of the United Nations Security Council deadline for Khartoum to disarm militia and provide safety for its people.

This has triggered a mass exodus into eastern Chad - more than 200,000 refugees have poured across the border seeking sanctuary.

Chad is the world's 10th-poorest country, far poorer than its Sudanese neighbour. Most of its eight million people scratch out a meagre existence as subsistence farmers and can ill-afford to host those fleeing from the bloodshed.

The stream escaping Sudan may well turn into a flood as camel-riding militiamen sweep through villages looting homes, raping women and killing the men. They leave nothing in their wake but scorched earth.

Since March, the number of Darfuris seeking refuge has doubled and the UN estimates that another 100,000 may arrive in Chad as the situation continues to deteriorate. There are 10 camps along the desolate 600km border with Sudan. For many, living conditions are worse than those they escaped.

In Bahai camp, north Chad, 13,000 people are living in squalid conditions. In the seven months since the refugees have arrived there have been only three food deliveries and the last was more than two months ago.

Children no longer play, but lie listlessly inside makeshift shelters waiting for the arrival of aid - or death, whichever comes first.

In the camp, people have resorted to eating leaves and tree roots to stay alive. One in three children is severely malnourished and vulnerable to diseases. The sprawling mass grave outside Bahai camp confirms this.

Ahna Soumano Burke, World Vision's child protection co-ordinator in Chad, says many children die from diarrhoea brought about by poor hygiene, harsh living conditions in tents and lack of clean water.

Burke says the camps are already beyond capacity and stretched to breaking point.

Although life is miserable inside the camps, for those outside it is unbearable.

"As we entered the camps I saw a crowd of women and their children sitting on their meagre personal belongings in searing heat, amid a sandstorm, waiting for someone to take pity on their fate," Burke says. "With the lack of food and water in the camp the situation for incoming families is just hopeless and beyond anyone's understanding."

Many refugees have no choice but to take the perilous journey across the border.

Ali Younous, father of five, fled with his family to the mountains when he heard the Janjaweed were camped around his village, ready to attack at dawn.

"I took my family to the mountains between Kourbarou and Ambarou to hide. I thought it would be a temporary situation so we left everything behind in the house.

"After the attack we only had one donkey left. Before, we had 80 cows, 150 sheep and 30 camels. We lost everything to the Janjaweed. Our house and everything we had inside was burned to the ground.

"We cannot understand the reason behind so much wrath against us. We heard that now there are only 10 houses left standing in Ambarou out of the 3000 that existed."

They hid in the mountains for a month, but with scant food, then made a week's journey to Bahai camp, travelling at night.

Ali and his family live in a tent inside the camp. He worries for his children: "I am praying that a school will open soon here. I would like the children to have a future."

Around the camp the landscape is littered with the carcasses of dead animals - in the heat they don't rot, they mummify. Temperatures soar to a sweltering 50C and the bone-dry landscape offers little respite. Even camels have died of dehydration.

As if conditions weren't desperate enough, a locust plague of biblical proportions is threatening Chad's harvest.

A single locust can devour its own weight in vegetation in a day so, in a few hours, a swarm can consume a quantity that could feed several thousand people.

The onset of the rainy season is hampering aid efforts. Sand dunes have turned into muddy pools and dry riverbeds are now full to the brim, making overland travel treacherous. Aid agencies are now considering air-dropping essential supplies, an expensive and problematic option.

New Zealanders have raised $500,000 for emergency food distributions in World Vision's Sudan and Chad appeal. To donate, call 0800 90 10 10 or visit World Vision