Chad - A Precarious Future |
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February 1st, 2007 - 10:47AM |
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Photo: Melissa Winkler/The IRC International Rescue Committee emergency communications coordinator Melissa Winkler was in Bahai, Chad, last week to document IRC programs assisting Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians. Abeche, Chad , January 29 - I left Bahai today. From the plane, I could see the rambling refugee camp that the International Rescue Committee manages. There, refugees from Darfur are letting their tents whither. Unable to return home anytime soon, they have started building bricks. Looking out the window, it's hard to tell where Chad ends and Sudan begins. I'm told the dangerous border of Darfur is about five kilometers from the camp. I suppose it hardly matters these days. The Darfur conflict seems to know no boundaries and is increasingly spilling over into Chad. Dominique de Juriew, our main liaison to community groups at the camp, says many of the refugees are afraid. And it's no wonder. In the past four months the violence that the refugees fled in Sudan has come to their doorstep in the country where they sought safety. They are experiencing the nightmare all over again. They have next to no protection and we worry about the impact worsening border violence will have on our ability to deliver lifesaving assistance. For three years, our programs here have been a lifeline to the Darfur refugees in northeastern Chad. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit the IRC water filtration and treatment facility that turns dirty turbid water from Lake Cariari into beautifully clean drinking water for the refugees at Oure Cassoni. Once the water is purified, says my colleague Matthias Ntawhia who oversees the intricate program, it gets piped into water bladders and then distributed to more than 50 tap stands scattered around the camp. The water meets international standards in quality and quantity and in this desolate desert location, that's a sheer miracle in engineering in my humble opinion! I can't help but think what would happen to the refugees if clean water was no longer available to them; if violence barred Matthias and his team from keeping the water system running. Fortunately, the IRC has been able to maintain the most critical services at the camp --- water, sanitation, medical and education services -- in spite of the volatility. But what if things get so bad that we can't? In the plane, we passed over a Chadian village that was burned to the ground. Black circles in the sand indicate where family huts once stood. There are no other villages nearby. Where have the people gone? Raids on Chadian villages are on the rise, displacing tens of thousands of civilians. In the coming weeks, the IRC will be launching emergency assistance for uprooted Chadians who are living in desperate conditions with negligible access to health, water and other basic necessities. The head of IRC's program in Chad, Joseph Aguettant, says there is a real danger of an explosive regional crisis unless there's more international engagement and the deployment of an international force to stop the spread of violence, protect the innocent and safeguard humanitarian assistance. Without this critical help, Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadians here face a very precarious future. Posted By: Melissa Winkler | Africa, Diaries & Journals, Health, Sudan & the Darfur Crisis, _Melissa Winkler in Chad Permalink |
