U.N. officials in Chad brace for more refugees from western Sudan

Published: 2004-08-20

N'DJAMENA, Chad (CNS) -- U.N. refugee officials in Chad said the agency is bracing for the arrival of about 100,000 refugees from western Sudan as the situation there deteriorates. The officials said they expect a crush of refugees to cross the border before the end of 2004, joining the nearly 200,000 Sudanese refugees already in eastern Chad. About 500 new refugees arrived in Chad from the Darfur region of Sudan in mid-August, telling U.N. workers that their camps and villages were being bombed daily by government aircraft and looted by Arab militia, known as Janjaweed. Some of the refugees walked for 12 days across the Sudanese desert to reach the Chad border, taking a more difficult route to avoid attacks by the Janjaweed, U.N. officials said. "We're hearing stories of there not being enough food or water, of families choosing to leave sick people behind," said Fatoumata Kaba, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The fresh attacks came as Sudan nears a mid-September U.N. deadline to end attacks against black Africans in Darfur and to rein in the Janjaweed or face unspecified international action.

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