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With the ink barely dry on a peace agreement signed in late May between the Islamic government of Sudan and southern Christians and animists, an estimated 1-2 million largely black Muslim residents of the western Darfur region have been uprooted from their homes by rampaging Arab militias supported by the Arab-dominated government. Some 200,000 refugees have poured over Sudan's border with Chad, crowding a string of official and "spontaneous" refugee camps. Christianity Today associate news editor Stan Guthrie spoke with Wilfred Mlay, World Vision's regional vice president for Africa, about the crisis. Mlay, a native of Tanzania, was in Chad at the refugee camp in Farchana, about 70 to 100 kilometers from the border with Sudan.

A peace accord has been signed, but the violence continues in Darfur. Why?

There are many factions that have been fighting the government for autonomy, for independence. The main faction that is known is the SPLA [Sudan People's Liberation Army]. Now with the prospects of peace between the government of Sudan and the SPLA, the other rebel groups, I believe, have put pressure on the government so that they'll get some consideration out of the peace accord. And the people in Darfur have been wanting some level of autonomy. They don't want to be forgotten when the full peace accord is signed.

What is it like in the refugee camps in Chad?

The camp that we visited [June 24] is in a place called Farchana. This camp is managed by one of the local aid agencies supported by UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] and MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders]. And therefore it's much better organized than some of the other camps, where people have just spontaneously settled. In these spontaneous camps you have a lot of people sleeping on thornbush trees, without any covering or shelter, and yet depending, at the moment, on the mercies and support they can get from the local populations.

However, where the aid agencies have been able to provide support, like the camp I visited, [people] have shelter and medical assistance, water has been trucked in, and generally the kids are being taken [care of]. I saw hundreds of kids in classes. Teachers will come in across the border to provide some level of education and also to make sure that the kids have some provision for health care and also facilities [in which] to play.

But that is not the case in the spontaneous camps. In these spontaneous camps, the refugees are entirely dependent on the local populations, and they are in the open. Soon the rains are going to fall in this area. It is very dry, it is semi-desert, it is open. And unless we can provide quick support in terms of shelter, food, water, and also assist with the kids so they have a friendly environment, we fear that disease like pneumonia will strike and the kids will begin to die. So we are working with the UNHCR here to try and establish these new camps as soon as possible before the rains start.

Are any local Christians helping them?

Unfortunately, not many. The only refugee organization that we saw today is a Catholic one, called FECADEV. It assists CRS [Catholic Relief Services]. That's the only Christian organization other than World Vision present in these areas.

What are the prospects for resettling them?

We've talked to some of the refugees, asking them whether they expect to be able to go back to Darfur soon. Most of them said the prospects are bleak because the fighting continues, and that unless they are sure that they will have security and can go back and rebuild their homes, they would rather stay in this area.

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September 2004, Vol. 48, No. 9