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Programme Number: 004
Week of: Sunday, 11July, 2004
Recording Date: Thursday, 15 July 2004
Programme: In this special programme, we travel
to a Sudanese refugee camp in Chad with the UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan. We examine the plight of victims of the
world's worst humanitarian crisis in the troubled Darfur
Region of Western Sudan - we'll hear from some of the
victims:
CLIP-1: ACTUALITY OF DARFUR REFUGEE WOMAN:
NARRATOR:
We'll be questioning Sudanese government ministers about
their government's alleged support for the much-feared
Arab Janjaweed militiamen who have been attacking the
mainly black African populations.
CLIP-2: HUMANITARIAN MINISTER IBRAHIM MAHMUD HAMED:
"No it is not right. I want to say something, this
is a war. There is violence everywhere, even in Iraq
we have a very serious crisis."
NARRATOR:
Also, what the UN Secretary-General heard himself from
the victims.
CLIP-3: :
"The stories the refugees are telling and the internally
displaced people are telling are the same. They were
attacked, they feared aggression, there were serious
violations of human rights, gross and systematic ones
and they had to flee for their lives."
Editor / Presenter: Ben Malor
Producer: Ben Malor
Production Assistant: Marcia Ward
Studio Engineer: Carlos Macias
NARRATOR:
Hello … and Welcome to United Nations Radio from
New York.
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under narration.)
NARRATOR:
You're listening to, UN and Africa, and I'm, Ben Dotsei
Malor.
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NARRATOR:
In this special programme, we travel to a Sudanese refugee
camp in Chad with the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
We examine the plight of victims of the world's worst
humanitarian crisis in the troubled Darfur Region of
Western Sudan - we'll hear from some of the victims:
CLIP-1: ACTUALITY OF DARFUR REFUGEE WOMAN:
NARRATOR:
We'll be questioning Sudanese government ministers about
their government's alleged support for the much-feared
Arab Janjaweed militiamen who have been attacking the
mainly black African populations.
CLIP-2: HUMANITARIAN MINISTER IBRAHIM MAHMUD HAMED:
"No it is not right. I want to say something, this
is a war. There is violence everywhere, even in Iraq
we have a very serious crisis."
NARRATOR:
Also, what the UN Secretary-General heard himself from
the victims.
CLIP-3: :
"The stories the refugees are telling and the internally
displaced people are telling are the same. They were
attacked, they feared aggression, there were serious
violations of human rights, gross and systematic ones
and they had to flee for their lives."
NARRATOR:
Plus we evaluate the overall impact of Mr. Annan's visit
to Sudan and Chad. Stay tuned, to, UN and Africa.
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sentence. )
NARRATOR:
For over a year now, more than 10,000 people have died
in the Darfur Region of Western Sudan, as a result of
fighting involving local rebels, government forces and
pro-government Arab militiamen known as the Janjaweed.
Two rebels groups in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Army
and the Justice and Equality Movement started an armed
insurrection against the government to draw attention
to the neglect of their region. The government responded
with aerial bombardments and allegedly through the use
of the Arab militiamen - who move across the region
using horses and camels.
The Janjaweed have been accused of attacking villages,
looting houses and livestock, raping women and poisoning
wells. The violence has forced more than one million
people out of their homes -many of them fleeing westward
on foot and donkey into neighbouring Chad.
ACTUALITY-1: HELICOPTER SOUNDS
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NARRATOR:
We travelled with UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan,
to Chad and Sudan, where he pressed the Sudanese government
to stop the violence and protect its people and he also
tried to draw world attention to the crisis in Darfur.
Part of Mr. Annan's trip took him to the Iridimi refugee
camp in eastern Chad:
ACTUALITY-1: HELICOPTER SOUNDS
ACTUALITY-2: BEN'S ON LOCATION NARRATION
"We have just arrived after the one hour helicopter
flight from the town of Abeche. We have arrived at the
Iridimi refugee camp in the far east of Chad. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan and his helicopter have just landed, they
are joining us to move into the camp.
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"We are now at the Iridimi refugee camp in eastern
Chad 70 km away from the Darfur Sudan border. The space
created here is the size of about 3 football fields.
The temperature here is quite high but the breeze is
mild and there are hundreds of people ,refugees clad
in white gowns, the women in very colorful attire. These
are Darfurians, people from Sudan who have had to be
brought over here in order that they wouldn't stay more
precariously on the border with Sudan. And there are
banners, the people are carrying banners: NO NO TO WAR,
YES YES TO PEACE. Some are saying: SECURITY FIRST, THEN
VOLUNTARY RETURN.
These are some of the banners I can see, some are saying:
STOP THE ETHNIC CLEANSING AND THE GENOCIDE.
NARRATOR: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
The UNHCR Spokeswoman in the camp is Helen Caux:
Helene Caux:
We opened the camp on march 21st and basically we moved
the people far away from the border because they were
in a very insecure environment, especially in the region
of ….... There were a lot of bombings, further
south what the refugees call the Janjaweed Arab militia
were crossing over to the border to steal the cattle,
so it was completely insecure to leave the refugees
in this kind of environment and HCR and its partners
have started to move them.
Up to now we have moved more that 120,000 refugees to
8 camps across to Chad, further in Chad.
Our camps have to be at least 50 km inland Chad and
basically we are in a race against time because the
rainy season is approaching and we need to move these
people before the rains fall.
BEN: You mentioned the Janjaweed and how they were
coming to attack the people even when the people left
their villages. What kind of stories have the people
been telling you?
Helene Caux: Well it's very traumatic and traumatic
stories. basically they talk about a plane bombing the
village then this attack is followed by attacks from
the Janjaweed Arab militia on horses and camels who
raid the houses, loot the houses, burn the villages,
sometimes kill the people, shooting the air, shoot at
people, basically destroy the wells, so people cannot
come back, steal the cattle, so basically villagers
have no other choice than walking and crossing over
to Chad to security.
NARRATOR:
It's not only UN agencies which are working in the Iridimi
Refugee camp. Other humanitarian organisations like
Medicins Sans Frontieres and CARE are also playing a
considerable role in helping the refugees:
HOLLINGSWORTH: My name is Howard Hollingsworth.
We manage the camp but more than that we are trying
to develop a Sudanese community, really implicate them
in identifying the problems and the solutions.
BEN: What are the major problems you face here?
HOLLINGSWORTH: Well for the longest time there was
no water available, sanitation still a problem and there
have been times where there hasn't been fuel to transport
food, there's also been times when the food that we've
had hasn't been enough in terms of the number of calories
available. At the moment I think the biggest problem
is I would say just trying to establish this as permanent
camp, getting people into tents, protect them from the
rains that are coming and make sure that we can continue
to provide food during the raining season.
NARRATOR: Some of the refugees spoke to me about their
ordeal .First, 35-year-old Dabaiye Omar Saleh:
ACTUALITY - REFUGEE WOMAN: DABAIYE OMAR SALEH
The government and the Janjaweed attacked our place,
I lost my husband and in the panic I was separated from
some of my children. Some are here with me but I don't
know where the rest of my children are. I don't know.
I had to walk for 25 days from my village to get to
this refugee camp. On the way, we didn't have food to
eat. There was no food there was no water if we found
a puddle by the side of the road we scooped it up with
our hands to drink. It is true that the Janjaweed attacked
the women. They are raping the women.
NARRATOR: Another refugee Mohammed Issa spoke to me:
ACTUALITY - REFUGEE MAN:
He said he arrived in the camp from Janga. He was the
chief of Janga. He said the Sudan government sent 3
aircrafts, one aircraft and 2 helicopters with armaments
and military guards. "They came, they bombed our
village and we came here to stay", he said.
Another refugee woman spoke to us about the attacks
carried out by the Jangaweed:
ACTUALITY OF OLD REFUGEE: SALEH HAMID MUBARAK
We were very disappointed with Sudan. Our belongings
were looted, our women were raped. All we want is peace
to return home. I had 3 children who died in the bombing.
We walked 15 days to get here some died of thirst along
the way.
NARRATOR:
The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan moved among the
hundreds of refugees and greeted them as they welcomed
him. And with a senior Chadian Minister by his side,
Mr Annan spoke to the media:
ANNAN: English or French?
haha both.
Let me start by thanking the government of Chad for
the generous and hospitable way it hass received refugees
from Sudan. And there about over 200.000 of them here.
….and you've seen one of the better camps. We would
want all the camps to be like this and of course this
camp has been in existence since March and we've had
time to really set it up but it has been a very difficult
situation. The government of Sudan has given an engagement
that is going to disarm the Janjaweed and to contain
them and provide security for the population. And it
is, of course, as I have said in the past, the sacred
duty of every government and of the Sudanese government
to protect its population. And the international community
is insisting on that and we hope that once the government
has been able to carry out its engagement the people
here and in other camps would eventually be able to
return.
NARRATOR: Sudan's Minister for Humanitarian Affairsis
IBRAHIM MAHMUD HAMED.
BEN MALOR: You are the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.
Everybody is talking about the Janja weed. The woman
say the Janjaweed killed their husbands; some women
say they've been raped by the Janjaweed. And they claim
the government is behind the Janjaweed. Why are you
supporting the Janjaweed and using them against your
own people?
IBRAHIM MAHMUD HAMED: We think that Janjaweed is a
bi-product of the rebellions. We have no problems, such
problems with Janjaweed before the rebellions. So the
major cause of these problems are the rebellions. So
we are the government, we said that and this is what
we have agreed upon with the Secretary General Kofi
Annan and Mr Powell, the Secretary of State.
BEN MALOR: The people say that you as the Minister
of State for Sudan, you are not protecting them against
the Janjaweed. You are actually using the Janjaweed
against your own people. That's what the people here
say.
IBRAHIM MAHMUD HAMED: No it is not right.This is a
war. There is violence everywhere, even in Iraq we have
a very serious crisis.
NARRATOR:
At the end of Mr. Annan visit to this camp II asked
the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, what
had been achieved through the trip:
EGELAND: I think the SG really was able to secure
a brake through in many areas. The areas I would highlight
are a humanitarian moratorium on all restrictions. So
now we are able with the non governmental partners to
bring in all the relief workers and all the material
resources we need in Darfur immediately.
Secondly, a much more clearer commitment to start to
disarm the Jangaweed militia and the other armed groups
that have created so much human rights abuse in these
areas and so many hundreds of thousands of displaced
and refugees.
Thirdly, to create more security for the civilians
in the area. They are scared still, they don't want
to go back, we need to ensure that the return is voluntary
and happens in security, dignity and safety and finally
also a very clear commitment by the Africa Union and
the UN to work together towards a peaceful solution
to the terrible situation.
BEN MALOR: So for the UN now having got this commitment
from the Sudanese government, what are the key things
the UN agencies and humanitarian organizations plan
to do over the next few days?
EGELAND: We are now in the middle of an ambition 90
day action plan to dramatically step up humanitarian
relief to 1.2 million internally displaced in the Darfur
Provinces of Sudan and 200 thousand refugees in Chad.
By the end of this month July we will bale to feed one
million people and provide water and sanitation and
health services to 3 quarters of a million people. This
is dramatically more than a few weeks ago, but it's
still for short of our programme and our need to provide
assistance to 1.2 million people.
NARRATOR: The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator
Jan Egeland speaking there after the visit to the Sudanese
refugee camp in Chad.
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NARRATOR:
That's it, for this edition of UN and Africa dedicated
to the plight of the people affected by the violence
in Sudan's Darfur region. I want to say thanks to studio
engineer Carlos Macias and Production Assistant Marcia
Ward.
We would like to hear your views and comments about
this programme and what you've heard today. E-mail us,
using, unradio@un.org OR Write to us at:
UN and Africa,
United Nations Radio,
UN Headquarters,
New York, USA.
Thank you for listening and Bye bye.
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