‘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.”
World
Ron Benjamin: Body of Israeli hostage kidnapped during cycling trip on 7 October found in Gaza, IDF says
World
Update given on health condition of Slovakia’s PM – as suspect in court over attempted assassination
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in a stable but serious condition as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him appeared in court for the first time.
Health minister Zuzana Dolinkova said further two-hour surgery on Friday “contributed to a positive prognosis” for the 59-year-old, who was shot five times at point blank range while greeting supporters in the former mining town of Handlova on Wednesday.
Pic: AP
However, although awake at the hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Mr Fico was taken by helicopter after being shot, his condition still made it impossible to transport him to the capital, Bratislava.
Read more:
Who is Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico?
Deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak has said there was no need to formally take over Mr Fico’s official duties.
The suspected gunman was tackled to the ground and arrested at the scene of the attack and the first assassination attempt of a European political leader for more than 20 years.
He has previously been named as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a former shopping centre security guard who also writes poetry.
The special criminal court in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by officers wearing balaclavas and carrying automatic weapons for his court appearance.
The media were kept at a distance. Pic: AP
News media were not allowed in for the hearing and reporters were kept behind a gate outside.
Officers had taken the suspect, who has been charged with attempted murder, to his home in the town of Levice on Friday and seized a computer and some documents, according to local media.
The attack sent shockwaves throughout Europe and raised concerns over the already polarised and febrile political situation in Slovakia.
Health minister Zuzana Dolinkova gave the latest update on the PM’s condition. Pic: Reuters
Mr Fico has long been a divisive figure.
His return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American ticket fuelled worries among fellow EU and NATO members over the country’s direction.
Slovakia had previously been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but on taking office Mr Fico halted arms supplies to the nation battling invading Russian forces.
Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country to protest against his policies.
The bodies of three Israeli hostage taken by Hamas have been recovered in Gaza.
The remains were discovered in an overnight operation carried out by Israel’s military and intelligence agency Shin Bet, said chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, Amit Buskila, 28, and Shani Louk, 22, were killed at the Nova music festival on 7 October, with their bodies then taken into Gaza by Hamas militants.
Ms Louk’s body was seen face-down in a pick-up truck travelling through Gaza in a video that was shared widely on social media after the hostages were taken.
Israel-Gaza war latest updates
Shani Louk
Itzhak Gelerenter
Amit Buskila
“They were celebrating life in the Nova music festival and they were murdered by Hamas,” said Mr Hagari.
He said their families have been notified.
“Our hearts go out to them, to the families at this difficult time. We will leave no stone unturned, we will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home.”
The military did not give immediate details on where their bodies were found.
Ms Louk’s father has said the return of his daughter’s body to her family has been a form of closure.
Nissim Louk told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz his daughter “radiated light, to her and those who surrounded her, and in her death she still does”.
He added: “She is a symbol of the people of Israel, between light and darkness. Her inner and outer beauty that shone for all the world to see is a special one.”
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‘No respect’ for the world after Gaza horrors
Read more:
Hostages’ families urge Netanyahu to accept deal
Hamas releases video of hostages
Hostage’s parents tell him ‘stay strong’
In November, the brother of Ms Louk told Sky News of their last phone call as his sister tried to escape Hamas.
Speaking about the video that was circulated online after she was taken, Amit Louk said: “I never thought I was going to be in contact with this type of video, seeing my sister in that brutal position.
“And just in that moment, the whole family just crashed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking”, saying: “We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead.”
Meanwhile, Professor Hagai Levine, a member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has said the recovery of the bodies is a “painful reminder” of those who are still in captivity.
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Child with rare genetic disorder stuck in Gaza
“We do not lose hope. We are preparing for the return of the hostages that are alive,” he added.
Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the 7 October attack.
Around half of those have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a ceasefire in November.
Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
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Gaza situation ‘a complete disaster’
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back.
He faces pressure to resign, and the US has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and free the hostages, and others who think the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas.
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