‘They set us on fire and took everything’: The harrowing stories inside Chad’s refugee camps as thousands flee Sudan
The 41-degree heat rises like steam from every rock and roof but as sunset approaches the sky breaks into a thunderstorm.
A woman, deep in a latrine, pauses her digging to run under a corrugated zinc roof held up by a square wooden frame for shelter from the rain.
It is her new home in an extension of the Farchana refugee camp.
Built in 2003 at the start of the war in Darfur, the site is now expanding to accommodate the latest wave of people fleeing violence.
Around 90,000 refugees have come to eastern Chad, seeking safety from the conflict in Sudan.
The deputy representative for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) in Chad, Patrice Ahouansou, is expecting 10,000 more to come to Farchana alone because of the ongoing crisis.
“Some of them are internally displaced persons in Sudan and are crossing now to seek asylum in Chad, others were here before as refugees, went back and have come back again as refugees,” he said.
According to the UNHCR, 85,000 people have fled to Chad from al Geneina – the state capital of West Darfur and an epicentre of conflict.
The city has been in darkness for more than a week due to a telecommunications blackout and many residents are trapped.
Door-to-door attacks by militias backed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – the group in conflict with Sudan’s government – have been reported.
The only information is coming from those who have managed to get out.
‘They set us on fire and took everything’
Suad Ramadan Abdullah has just arrived at the Gaga camp in Chad from Muli in Sudan – a village just south of the city and not far enough from its searing violence.
“There are clashes, burning and killing in al Geneina,” she said.
“People are not even able to eat or drink.
“They set us on fire and took everything. We came here naked with nothing – not even a bowl for a baby.”
Like others fleeing the state, Suad and her family had to take a long route into Chad as the main road from al Geneina has been plagued by violent attacks recently.
After they arrived, a spillover of violence from the border meant they needed to be relocated after an arduous journey.
“Wherever they move us we are ready because we have small children,” said Muli farmer Abdullah Khatir Ahmed in his seat on the hard hot ground next to Suad.
He added: “We can’t have them come and kill us every time. That is why we came here.”
The war being waged by Sudan’s army against former state security partners the paramilitary RSF has forced more than a million people to flee their homes.
Some 250,000 civilians have crossed into surrounding countries and those remaining are trapped in Khartoum and Darfur.
The people left behind are facing the daily terror of guerrilla warfare and military offensives.
Read more on Sudan crisis:
Scale of destruction in before and after images
UK evacuation ends
Inside war-torn country
The fighting explained
UN envoy on the struggle to de-escalate
‘At this moment, it is intense’
Aisha Azein came to Chad from Konga, another village outside of al Geneina, with her seven children, the youngest of whom is four years old.
“The war has been happening,” she said.
“It has been ongoing but never like this. At this moment it is intense.”
She said the Arab militias brought cows to eat all the crops on their farmland.
At night, they tortured and killed the men.
The RSF was born from these militias – notoriously known as janjaweed, which means “devils on horseback” in local dialect – and was empowered, trained, and funded by the state they are now fighting.
The war has emboldened the tribal militias benefitting from their support in Darfur.
Aisha’s family and other residents from Konga have fled their farmlands to come to Borota, a two-week-old camp that has sprung up out of necessity.
“We won’t go back – not unless there is resolution,” said Aisha’s elderly neighbour, Mohamed.
“We are vulnerable and it is not secure.”
Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.
Pupils in the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have been told to stay at home and learn remotely due to a severe health risk.
Schools in Cambodia have also cut back on their hours.
Cambodia faces its hottest temperature in 170 years, according to meteorologists – as high as 43C (109F).
Bangkok in Thailand has reached 40C (104 F), but the heat index is said to have topped 50 C (122 F) due to the heat being trapped among the mass of buildings.
The United Nations Children’s Fund warned in April that the heat could put the lives of millions of children at risk and asked people who care for them to take extra precautions.
A spokesperson for UNICEF said around 243 million children were exposed to hotter and longer heatwaves.
A woman drinks from a public tap in India. Pic: AP
They said the increased heat was “putting them at risk of a multitude of heat-related illnesses, and even death”.
Thirty people in Thailand have died from heatstroke in the past month, according to data from the country’s health ministry.
People are being advised to avoid outdoor activities and to stay hydrated.
Several towns in Myanmar were included on lists of the hottest spots globally last month, with temperatures reaching 48.2C (118F) in at least one case.
People stock up on water in India. Pic: AP
Parts of eastern India also experienced their hottest April on record.
Kerala, on India’s west coast, this week instructed all schools and colleges to close until Monday, while influencers in Bangladesh have encouraging people to plant trees in response to the record heat.
Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said there were three factors for heatwaves: a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon known as El Nino, an increase in global temperatures, and human-induced climate change.
Read more:
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Brazil is currently experiencing another climate phenomenon – La Nina – with 39 dead and 68 missing in floods across the country.
More than 24,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.
Scientists believe the naturally-occurring phenomenon has intensified due to the impact of climate change.
China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.
Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coastguard, told Sky News that China is a ‘bully’
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
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Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
China’s coastguard fired water at Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay while Sky was onboard
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.
Read more:
US accuses Beijing of ‘bullying’ in South China Sea
China building airstrip on disputed island, satellite images suggest
Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
World
Three charged over killing of Sikh separatist leader in Canada – in incident which sparked diplomatic spat with India
Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.
“This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said.
The three suspects – Indian nationals Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh – were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said: “This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals.”
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Canada killing ‘linked’ to India govt
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India when he said in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing. India angrily denied involvement.
Mr Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a leader in what remains of the Khalistan movement – a once-strong group calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.
He was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death and had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
The Khalistan movement has lost much of its power but is still supported by some in the Punjab state in northwestern India and in the Sikh diaspora overseas.
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A violent, decade-long Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, and was ultimately crushed in a government crackdown which saw thousands of people killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
In June 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had taken refuge.
In more recent years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
Read more: What is the Khalistan movement?
Mr Trudeau’s accusation angered India PM Narendra Modi. File pic: AP
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The diplomatic row saw diplomats expelled by both India and Canada.
The Indian government said it “completely rejected” Mr Trudeau’s allegations and added: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”
The dispute derailed trade talks between the two countries and ultimately saw Canada withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in India.
At the time, Canada did not provide public evidence to back up Mr Trudeau’s allegations. However, it did reveal the claims were based on intelligence provided by a major ally and surveillance of Indian diplomats in the country.
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