Chad
48 travels to Eastern Chad to examine life in two camps near the Sudan border.
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| Sudanese refugees at Djabal Camp |
This week Amanda Palmer and the crew embark on a very different 48 hours. They travel to one of Africa’s poorest and most corrupt countries, Chad, to find out about daily life in two camps that have been built in the East of the country, 90 kilometres from the border with war-torn Sudan. Djabal was set up for Sudanese refugees who have fled the bloodshed in Western Darfur, and Gassire is a newly established camp for internally displaced Chadians.
Since 2003, at least 200,000 people have died and more than 2.5 million displaced by conflict in the region, making Darfur one of the gravest humanitarian disasters the world has ever seen. The causes of the crisis are complex. Sudan’s government and pro-government Arab militias or ‘janjaweed’ are accused of war crimes against the region’s black African population. However, as violence spreads it is becoming increasingly difficult to define who is attacking who.
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| A meeting of Umdas the local leaders at Djabal Camp |
At the end of July the UN voted unanimously to send 26,000 desperately needed peacekeepers to the region, in partnership with the African Union. But it could be months before the troops are deployed. With hundreds of brutal civilian attacks still happening each week, the people of the region say help isn’t coming fast enough. When the UN Security Council reconvenes later this month, NGOs will be lobbying for immediate action to halt the killing and protect civilians living along the border, so they may at last return home.
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| Amanda with Gassire Camp guide Patricia |
On this 48, Amanda’s guides are both Chadian working for the humanitarian organisation Oxfam as team leaders. Ibrahim has the vital job of training refugees to build latrines and source water, and Patricia coordinates a team of hygiene promoters. Amanda discovers lively communities where, despite the suffering many have endured, people are still proud, hard-working, enterprising, and determined to improve their lives.
This episode of 48 was broadcasted from 29th September 2007 at the following times GMT:
Saturday 29th September 14:30, 22:30; Sunday 30th September 02:30, 12:30; Monday 1st October 00:30, 07:30; Tuesday 2nd October 06:00, 13:30; Wednesday 3rd October 11:30, 19:30; Thursday 4th October 05:30 Friday 5th October 03:00, 16:30; Saturday 6th October 06:30