“My
child! My child!” cries a woman frantically in the middle
of the crowd of people, luggage, donkeys, trucks and buses.
It is six o’clock in the morning just north of Adre, on
the eastern border of Chad.
As aid workers organise hundreds of Sudanese refugees onto the
transports that will take them to an official camp, Amani Ibrahim’s
three-year-old boy has wandered away and lost his family.
A volunteer from the Chad Red Cross quickly steps in to comfort
the anxious mother and lead the search. After a few minutes,
the child is reunited with his family, and volunteers resume
their work helping refugees climb on board the vehicles with
their possessions and distributing jerry cans of drinking water
to those already installed for the long drive ahead.
In Chad, as in other emergency situations, the Red Cross movement
has stepped in to supply essential equipment such as blankets
and mosquito nets, as well as transport, water and sanitation
facilities for the operation.
An equally important aspect of Red Cross work is the humanity
and warmth which the volunteers bring to distraught refugees
uprooted by war.
“I had never heard of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent
before coming to Chad,” Amani Ibrahim reveals as she effusively
thanks the volunteers. She was forced to flee when armed horsemen
raided her remote village in Sudan’s western province
of Darfur last January. When she finally brought her family
to safety after this terrifying ordeal, they had lost everything.
The fear and confusion does not stop at the border. “We
do not know what the future holds for us,” explains Amani
Ibrahim. “We do not know if we will have enough to feed
our children, if we will ever return to our village, if we will
ever lead normal lives again, if we will ever be safe.”
From where she stands, she can see Sudanese soldiers patrolling
on the other side of the dry river bed. Armed horsemen regularly
cross the border at night to raid refugee settlements inside
Chad, stealing the cattle they have managed to bring with them.
People who have tried to resist have been killed.
Mahamat Djabo Abouna heads the team of twenty Chad Red Cross
volunteers based in Adre. “They live right next to us,”
he tells us as he takes his place on a truck with the refugees.
“We speak the same language, wear the same clothes, live
the same way. It is our duty to help them during difficult times,
as they would help us.”
The Chad Red Cross has a unique role to play due to the proximity
of its volunteers to the refugee communities involved. Mahamat
is conscious of this responsibility. “The refugees need
food and equipment. But they are also bewildered by what is
happening to them. It is as important to reassure, explain,
and accompany. That is what we can do.”
“Now I know what the Red Cross does. Thank you,”
concludes Amani Ibrahim as the convoy takes her and 200 other
refugees to Kounoungo camp, where they will receive food and
non-food aid.
The crisis in eastern Chad has energised the whole Red Cross
Red Crescent movement, with the appeal launched to support the
Chad Red Cross in assisting the refugees now 70 per cent covered.
The president of the Swedish Red Cross, Dr. Anders Milton, recently
visited the region to assess the progress of the humanitarian
operation. “We must be the voice of these people and see
to it that they are given the support they need. They have the
right to assistance, protection, and a dignified life in the
same way as we all have,” he said.
“There is no such thing as a forgotten crisis for the
Red Cross/Red Crescent movement. The people whose everyday life
is a hard struggle to find enough food and water just to survive
need the commitment of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement.”
|
 |
 |
|
|
More
than 110,000 refugees have crossed into Chad to escape
the fighting in Darfur (p11514)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
At
the moment, the border region is arid, but soon the rains
will come, making access for humanitarian agencies difficult
(p11508)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
With
the situuation in Darfur still uncertain, it's not clear
how long this girl and other refugees will have to remain
in Chad (p11512)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Sudanese
refugees climb aboard one of the Chad Red Cross trucks,
donated by the Norwegian Red Cross, to begin the journey
to Kounoungo camp, where they will receive aid (p11511)
The majority of those who have crossed into Chad are women
and children (p11509)
|
|
News
