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INSIDE AFRICA

The Plight of Refugees and Internally Displaced Africans

Aired June 23, 2007 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and welcome to a special edition of INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Nic Robertson, coming to you this week from the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in Chad. In the light of World Refugee Day this week, we're focusing on the plight of these people, and the millions of others forced from their homes through the conflict in neighboring Sudan.
Quarter of a million of Darfur's estimated more than 2 million refugees are here in Chad. Internally, tens of thousands of Chadians are displaced from their homes. Life in these camps is both dangerous and difficult. Yet, it is a daily reality for many millions of Africans here and elsewhere.

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ROBERTSON: Six months old Abu Bakaus (ph) is three pounds, 1.5 kilos underweight. This is his second visit to the emergency medical clinic in this displaced people's camp in Chad. And doctors are worried. He's acutely malnourished. His mother Fatima says her other five children are hungry too. They're victims in the latest front in Darfur's four-year conflict.

Chadians forced from their homes in violence, ignited by the crisis across the border in Sudan; their condition is shocking some aid agencies.

JOHANNE SEKKENES, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: 20 percent of the kids under 5 are basically malnourished as we speak.

ROBERTSON: In the past year, more than 150,000 Chadians, mostly ethnic Africans, have fled a combination of Arab militias and anti-Chadian government rebels. Children, Doctors Without Borders say, are dying twice as fast as normal in the harsh camp conditions, and not enough is being done.

SEKKENES: The response to this situation specifically for the Chadian refugees (ph) or displaced population, is, as I see it, late and, up to date, insufficient.

ROBERTSON: But it's not just getting enough food to Chad's displaced that has aid officials worried. It is the ease with which violence in Chad is spreading, as weapons become more easily available, even among the displaced.

LUKE BRANDT, UNHCR CHIEF, GOZ BIEDA: It's totally different, because people are more likely to solve the problem with their weapons instead of talking about it.

ROBERTSON: Brahim Mustapha used to be the sultan here. His kingdom, Darsila, along the border with Darfur was the size of Maryland, and he negotiated all disputes, particularly the longstanding arguments over land rights between nomadic Arab herders and African farmers.

"In our state, if there is problem between farmer and herder, we resolve it traditionally," he said, "by talking. We've been living like this for centuries and centuries.:

A few months ago, he was effectively fired by the Chadian government for trying to diffuse the growing tensions. He blames both Sudan and Chad for arming the people.

"If the government does not solve the problem," he says, "each community will defend themselves, and the problem will get bigger and bigger."

It's these concerns of escalation that have aid officials worrying even more about the future. Chad's displaced already get barely two-thirds of their food needs.

FELIX BAMEZON, WFP HEAD IN CHAD: We had provision for 50,000 internally displaced people, and now we're feeding 150,000.

ROBERTSON: Three times.

BAMEZON: Three times more, which means that the situation is not getting better. It's getting worse, actually.

ROBERTSON: Food is also the most pressing problem for Chad's quarter million Darfur refugees. Aid organizations have cut daily adult rations from 2,500 calories -- the accepted international minimum -- to 2,100. Mohammed Suleiman Khamis (ph) and his wife struggle to feed their nine children twice a day. One son wants to be a minister, one daughter a teacher, and another a doctor. They study hard, but money is so tight, Khamis explains they often have to spend all day gathering firewood just to earn a dollar for more food. He says that all would go home tomorrow if it was safe enough.

As you walk around the refugee camps, you begin to realize just how permanent they are. Fences, pathways, almost small villages in their own right.

And Sudanese laws will make it so much harder for these people to go back home, because they state if you've been off your land for more than a year, then you have no entitlement.

Hopes among refugees and displaced alike are growing that Sudan's recent commitment to an international peacekeeping force will be more than the empty promises of the past, and so pave the way for their return. If not, underlying frustrations will grow. Chad's border will likely become even more volatile, and the humanitarian crisis here will grow.

The United Nations says the situation here in Chad and Darfur is alarming, because poor security is making it hard for them to get to all the people in need.

Africa is the continent that has the highest number of internally displaced people through conflict. Many of them forced out of their homes through ethnic and political violence, making finding a solution here so much more difficult.

Broken pots, burned and abandoned houses, all that's left of the once striving villages of Marina and neighboring Tiero, close to the border with Darfur. Two and a half months ago, more than 10,000 mostly ethnic African Chadians fled an attack here. What happened reveals much of the complexity of fighting that is often viewed as a simple overspill from the conflict in Darfur, where Arab Janjaweed attack ethnic African farmers.

MATTHEW CONWAY, UNHCR SPOKESMAN: The conflict is being drawn along ethnic lines, and in many cases it's not a question of one ethnicity against the other; it's different interests against the other.

ROBERTSON: About two hours drive away, in a camp for displaced people, Muktar Haroun, an elder from the villages and his nephews, explain not only did the Janjaweed attack them, but also Chadian rebels.

"The Janjaweed came riding camels and horses," he said. "They attacked at 5:00 in the morning. At 7:00, the rebels came in big trucks. They had heavy and light weapons, and they helped the Janjaweed."

Haroun lost his son in the fight. So did his nephew Edris Esa Omar. They say they only had bows, arrows and spears against the attackers' guns. The motivation - not ethnic, but political.

"The Janjaweed consist of many tribes, and they don't like Chad's president," he says. "So they came to us and said, you're supposed to be on our side, and we refused. So they came and attacked us."

Privately, some Western officials accuse Chad's president of distributing weapons inside these displacements camps. They say he's trying to fool militias to fight off the Chadi rebels. The Western officials won't say this publicly, because they're not authorized to do so, and it may harm their relationship with Chad's government.

None in this camp admit they know of such weapons, but U.N. officials see deepening distrust between ethnic and tribal groups. They say 25,000 Arabs around Tiero and Marina were so afraid of reprisals, they fled to Darfur before the attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently, word was out that this new attack was going to take place.

ROBERTSON: A tiny group of Arab traders not far from Haroun's camp express concern about the violence, but being (ph) hopeful local reconciliation would hold. One thing all communities do agree on -- and that's without peace in Darfur, Chad has little chance of stability.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: When INSIDE AFRICA returns, getting aid to refugees and peacekeepers to Darfur. We'll take a closer look. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: While refugees are recognized by the international community, internally displaced people, or IDPs, are not protected by international refugee law, because they're displaced within their own country. Of the world's more than 25 million internally displaced people, or IDPs, half are African, and some 70 to 80 percent are women and children. Sudan, with more than 5 million, has the highest number of IDPs, followed by Northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last year, Chad was added to the list for the first time, and with the international community still struggling for a solution to the root of the conflict in Darfur, there is little hope of improvement.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fashion and music take center stage at a benefit for AIDS patients in South Africa, which has the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. Positive Rocks 2007 featured leading African designers and world-class musicians. Last year, the event raised over $200,000 U.S. dollars.

A general strike over rise in fuel prices brought much of Nigeria to a standstill this week. Unions vow to sustain the strike indefinitely, in spite of concessions offered by Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua. This is the first major test to his government since taking office.

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ROBERTSON: Welcome back to this special edition of INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Nic Robertson, coming to you from the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in Chad.

For many of us, it is nearly impossible to imagine what life is like inside these camps. Yet it is a daily reality for millions of Africans, both here and elsewhere, forced to flee their homes and leave everything they know, making it a struggle for them to feed and protect their children. In these kinds of circumstances, a little help goes a long way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Landing on a remote Chadian air strip near the border with Darfur. The French military are rushing urgently needed humanitarian supplies to the growing number of Chadians who fled violence similar to that racking Darfur.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) at the request of the Chadian government first to help feed (ph) these people in this area.

ROBERTSON: On this flight, seven tons of blankets. More than 150 tons of food, plastic sheeting for tents, and other supplies, all paid for by the Chadian government, to follow.

This is the first international military mission to help Chad's internally displaced people, forced out of their homes by fighting. Deteriorating security has been rocketing their numbers from a few thousand last year to more than 150,000 now.

At a nearby malnutrition clinic for refugees from Darfur, doctors are seeing a rapid rise in cases of malnourished, internally displaced, or IDP, Chadian children.

MORY SANGARE: In these past month, we've seen a notable increase in the IDP Chadian admissions, to the point that 80 percent of our current cases is IDPs.

ROBERTSON: Wards that were once quiet, are now full. The problem, he explains, is refugees who have food entitlements from international aid agencies, eat more than the internally displaced, who do get some international help, but are far more dependent on their own government.

SANGARE: Unless people get access to land, or get greater food distributions, they'll be caught in a vicious cycle and be back suffering from the same malnutrition.

ROBERTSON: And it's not just malnutrition that threatens these people. Many don't have the protection they need for the coming rainy season. And that's adding even more urgency to the French mission.

COL. JEAN-BRUNO VAUTREY, FRENCH CHIEF OF STAFF, CHAD: Soon, the road and the air field should be restricted by the rain, so we have to do fast to bring everything before the rain.

ROBERTSON: Despite having months to prepare ahead of the rains, and get aid from the capital 1,000 kilometers, 600 miles to the west, the Chadian government appears slow to move. They blame a lack of experience.

ALI MEHMET MEHEMOUDI, CHADIAN NATL. COMM., ASST. TO DISPLACED (through translator): It's a huge operation, and the Chad government does not have a lot of experience. And it was very difficult for us. But thanks to the French, we have been able to make up some time.

ROBERTSON: It may not be enough. The rains are already starting.

The United Nations say they don't expect the humanitarian situation here to improve in the near future. On the contrary, they say it could get worse. While food aid is an answer to the short-term problems here, experts say the real answer is a political solution, and will to end the conflict in Darfur.

Chanting in support of Darfur refugees, the first ever U.N. organized rally in the capital of neighboring Chad, raising awareness of the 2 million or more forced from their homes across the border and the quarter million who crossed into Chad's refugee camps. Also, the escalation of Chad's own displaced -- a result of the same conflict.

FELIX BAMEZON, WFP CHAD DIRECTOR: We ended up with a huge increase in the number of people displaced, from 50,000 probably in October to 150,000 to 170,000 today.

ROBERTSON: Only hours earlier, Sudanese, African Union and European negotiators were heralding a significant Sudanese concession to ending the bloodshed in Darfur. After months of discussion, Sudan has greenlighted a 19,000-strong international peacekeeping force for Darfur. For aid officials here, it's an indication international pressure may be beginning to pay off.

BAMEZON: That is bringing about what we see now as being something of various positions.

ROBERTSON: No one here is taking any of these promises at their word. Sudan's concession on an international force comes with potentially deal- breaking strings attached, and some aid workers caution they have heard it all before.

BAMEZON: We're ready to deliver assistance when the situation does not in the end meet our expectation for peace and stability.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: There's more to come on INSIDE AFRICA. A documentary filmmaker travels through eastern Chad and Darfur. Stay with us.

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ROBERTSON: The refugee crisis in Chad originates in neighboring Darfur, where longstanding tensions between various groups erupted into full-blown conflict in 2003. That's when black African rebel groups rebelled against the government, for favoring the Arab population in Sudan. Sudan's government is accused of supporting the Arab militia in perpetrating war crimes, in retaliation against the black African population.

The journal "Science" says at least 200,000 people have been killed, and millions of others forced to flee their homes.

Hopes are now pinned on a possible U.N.-controlled peacekeeping mission to Darfur.

Thank you for joining us on this special edition of INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Nic Robertson, joining you this week from the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in Chad.

For several yours now, documentary filmmaker and photographer Mark Brecke has been traveling through Chad and Darfur, documenting the situation. His goal is to explain the conflict and the suffering here to the rest of the world.

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MARK BRECKE, FILMMAKER: I've been in more refugee camps around the world than I care to talk about.

My last work in Darfur really struck a cord with me, because while, you know, I've been doing this for such a long time, it never gets easier. My first image in Darfur was - was an hour and a half away from eastern Chad border when I left the U.N. camps. It was a mass gravesite, and you didn't have to go further into Darfur to see what was happening.

I saw the people on the ground and I went - moved very slowly. They were in a tent. They had just arrived across the border from Darfur into Chad. They spent, you know, a long journey, over 20 days, walking by foot to get to this camp in eastern Chad, and they literally collapsed from exhaustion.

What you saw is this fear, that they fled from Darfur, they've gone through rape, especially the women, they've seen their village burnt, they've seen their family members, brother and uncle shot in front of them. Yet they're able to pull their things together, their children, and make it into these camps.

The woman arriving with her seven children. And if you look at that image, each child has a different face. War isn't good for anyone, of course, but a child wears the face of war much differently.

The young rebel I was with, named Goma. He was about 15 years of age, and he was a very rambunctious young teenager, no different than any other teenager on the world. He always had this amazing smile on his face. I asked how did Goma come to join the rebels? That very beautiful smile on this child's face begins to disappear. Both of his parents were shot and killed in front of him. And tears started to come down his eyes, and he didn't want to talk about it anymore. That affects me still to this day, if Goma is still alive or is he still with the rebel groups.

The families now living under the trees, and as soon as they saw me, they laid down a carpet, and there was a young boy coming out to serve me tea. And, you know, it just overwhelmed me. They still have this hospitality.

These people are running out of time. They have run out a long time ago, and they're just waiting basically, you know, in suffering. But we have a second chance this time to get it right. Last time we got it wrong, of course speaking of Rwanda. You know, in history, you don't get too many second chances. And now we have one.

This was my last image. After the shutter clicks, yeah, there are moments when you really think to yourself, you know, what am I doing here, and how - how did we get to this point, and how can humanity treat each other the way it has in these situations? And so yeah, you know, you're human first and you're a photographer second. And so, you'd bring that with you always.

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ROBERTSON: That's all for this special edition of INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Nic Robertson in the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in Chad. There's lots more to come on the program next week. So please, let INSIDE AFRICA be your window to the continent. Take care.

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