Almost twenty thousand refugees from Central African Republic have arrived in southern Chad since the beginning of 2009, fleeing violence between government soldiers and rebels. In this film, refugees claim a massacre occured when their village was accused of supporting a new rebel group. The refugees are joining more than 300,000 others in Chad, in one of the world's forgotten crises. Celeste Hicks reportsAlmost twenty thousand refugees from Central African Republic have arrived in southern... more
Almost twenty thousand refugees from Central African Republic have arrived in southern Chad since the beginning of 2009, fleeing violence between government soldiers and rebels involved in the diamond trade. In this film, refugees claim a massacre was carried out when their village was accused of supporting a new rebel group. The refugees join more than 300,000 others living in Chad in one of the world's forgotten crises. Celeste Hicks reports..Almost twenty thousand refugees from Central African Republic have arrived in southern... more
Almost twenty thousand refugees from Central African Republic have arrived in southern Chad since the beginning of 2009, fleeing violence between government soldiers and rebels involved in the diamond trade. In this film, refugees claim a massacre was carried out when their village was accused of supporting a new rebel group. The refugees join more than 300,000 others living in Chad in one of the world's forgotten crises. Celeste Hicks reports..Almost twenty thousand refugees from Central African Republic have arrived in southern... more
The most significant environmental problem in southern Chad has been and will continue to be, the deforestation of the tropical woodlands and forests.
Deforestation in southern Chad is caused by the lack of access to electricity, resulting in the continued dependence on firewood. Less than three percent of the population in Chad have access to electricity. Firewood and charcoal is the only source of energy for more than 97 percent of the country and for rural families that figure jumps to 100 percent.Refugee camp in Chad.
The recent influx of refugees from Central African Republic and Sudan into southern Chad exacerbates the situation as displaced refugees now compete with local inhabitants over natural resources. This leads to more deforestation, soil erosion, and depletion and pollution of scarce water resources.
Barh Koh ESDA - an international non-profit charitable organization promoting poverty relief through environmental protection - is working to provide environmentally safe alternative energy sources to the disadvantaged inhabitants and refugees in the region of Maro in southern Chad. The group's efforts focus on cooking and indoor lighting, to help reduce dependence on firewood and thus, reducing the rate of deforestation.The most significant environmental problem in southern Chad has been and will continue... more
Security forces in Chad have captured a French Foreign Legion soldier who allegedly killed four people, including two comrades and a UN peacekeeper.
The man was found trying to get water from a well 10km (6 miles) from his base in Abeche, eastern Chad, French and Chadian officials said.
His arrest by Chadian gendarmes followed a massive military manhunt.
A French officer described the soldier, who had fled across the southern Sahara on a stolen horse, as "deranged".
The renegade soldier is a 27-year-old man of French-Guianese origin, AFP news agency reported.
'He flipped'
Before making his escape, the fugitive soldier shot dead a Togolese peacekeeper and two legionnaires at the Camp des Etoiles military base in the city of Abeche.
Map of Chad
He then shot dead a Chadian farmer, stole his horse and took flight across the semi-arid terrain towards Sudan.
The killings sparked a manhunt for the rogue soldier, involving helicopters and troops from the European Union and UN peacekeeping missions, as well as Chadian police and army soldiers.
"He was found exhausted a few kilometres east of Abeche and was given food and water," Lt Col Francois-Marie Gougeon, a spokesman for the French Defence Ministry, was quoted as saying by AFP.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin earlier said the soldier had been "seized by a fit of madness".
Mr Morin told France Info radio the authorities had no explanation for the soldier's actions "other than that he flipped".
The minister also reportedly said the soldier had passed a series of psychiatric tests before being accepted into the Legion in February 2007.
The legionnaires were part of the Eufor force that has for the past year helped to protect refugees from Darfur.
The Togolese soldier was part of a UN mission, which took over peacekeeping operations in Chad last month.Security forces in Chad have captured a French Foreign Legion soldier who allegedly... more
For all the charity and humanitarian aid that's been poured into the Darfur region, and all of the celebrities pleading for change -- it seems nothing has changed. People are still dying, atrocities continue, and the war worsens. This sense of futility is what makes the project we're sharing with you today so interesting.
The ultra-low-budget documentary "Christmas in Darfur?" follows the challenges two amateur filmmakers (and their limited crew) face as they attempt to make a film about what it was like for aid workers to spend their holiday season in this war-torn African desert. Boing Boing Video guest correspondent Sean Bonner interviewed the film's director Jason Mojica about that experience, and we bring you that conversation today, along with clips from the finished film.
Driven by the desire to understand the gap between all the global attention to Darfur and the worsening conditions there -- and with no experience in filmmaking, or any connections in Africa -- the filmmakers' guileless approach takes them deep into the refugee camps of Chad.For all the charity and humanitarian aid that's been poured into the Darfur region,... more
The United Nations said on Thursday it was looking into a media allegation it had withdrawn a security escort for actor George Clooney, a U.N. "messenger of peace," as he visited a lawless area of Chad.
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas cast doubt on the report, saying the U.N. mission in the West African country had no armed military police and relied on others for armed escorts.
In a column published on Thursday, New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof, who is traveling with Clooney, linked the alleged U.N. move with nervousness in the region over a possible indictment by the International Criminal Court of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of neighboring Sudan.The United Nations said on Thursday it was looking into a media allegation it had... more
NBC's Ann Curry travels to the Darfur region with New York Times columnist Nick Kristof and actor George Clooney.
Curry writes in a blog that in a refugee camp on the Chad side, a school house is named after President Barack Obama.
That's George Clooney above taking photos of Darfurian children. The children have no idea Clooney is a movie star, all they know is he's fun and that he's trying to help them.NBC's Ann Curry travels to the Darfur region with New York Times columnist Nick... more
It’s been a few years now since we decided that it was a Good Idea to check out some camps for Darfur refugees to try to figure out what exactly was going on in that particular slow-motion apocalypse, so we begged for money, shopped for body armor, got an impressive array of immunizations, bought a bad-ass first aid kit, hit up anyone we could for advice and headed out to Darfur (or at least right next to Darfur) to make a movie and figure this whole thing out.
So, now that we’re back and we’ve finished our movie, it’s time to ask what the rest of the world has accomplished in Darfur in the meantime. As far as we can tell, it looks like just about everyone has decided to be Very Deeply Concerned about Darfur. In a surprisingly effective global effort, the international community has produced copious amounts of concern, circumspection and caring. So much, in fact, that roughly 14.8 metric tons of concern per day is being produced for each refugee camp, along with more than 140 liters of circumspection and 6.7 bushels of caring per annum for each and every refugee, war widow, internally displaced person, and so on.
Just kidding!!! The international community has produced nowhere near that amount of caring or concern and, in any case, even if the world were that concerned, it still wouldn’t matter a single bit.
Even with the avalanche of press attention, celebrity public-service announcements, diplomatic notes, Congressional junkets, international condemnation, well-intentioned and occasionally baffling protests, heady conferences, solemn books and magazine articles, and a bewildering array of conflict resolution efforts, negotiations, and peace talks, it doesn’t look like much of anything has actually been done to actually stop a murderous tinpot dictator with an inexplicable desire to acquire some exceedingly desolate real estate using a impressive collection of remarkably brutal genocidal tactics.
(Click the link to read the rest of G. Ryan Faith's piece)It’s been a few years now since we decided that it was a Good Idea to check out some... more
What can three guys from Chicago do about the crisis in Darfur?
Good question.
In this film, a waiter, an IT guy, and a policy wonk head to the Chad/Sudan border in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the conflict in Darfur. Featuring interviews with members of the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM), the International Medical Corps (IMC), the Associated Press (AP), the United States Congress, and the Genocide Intervention Network (GI Net).
So... what do you think it will take to really "Save Darfur?"What can three guys from Chicago do about the crisis in Darfur?
Good question.... more
Three community radio stations have been established in Chad to serve refugees from Darfur and displaced Chadians. Local Chadian and Sudanese journalists have been trained to produce news and informational programming for people living in the camps on topics such as humanitarian relief and women's issues.Three community radio stations have been established in Chad to serve refugees from... more
Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil warfare as well as invasions by Libya before a semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990.
The government eventually drafted a democratic constitution, and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001.
In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which sporadically flares up despite several peace agreements between the government and the rebels.
In 2005 new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and have made probing attacks into eastern Chad. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority.
In June 2005, President Idriss Deby held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits. Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil... more
Iraq has been ranked by Transparency International(TI) as one of the world's most corrupt countries, just above Somalia as the "least clean" state.
The index is based on perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories.
The high levels of corruption amount to a humanitarian disaster said Huguette Labelle, chair of the watchdog.
At the bottom of the transparency table, along with Somalia and Iraq, are Burma, Haiti, Afghanistan and Sudan.
While Iraq remains in the same bottom-three position in the table as last year, the level of perceived corruption in the country collated by the Berlin-based organisation has increased.
The score is based on perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts.
TEN MOST CORRUPT STATES
Somalia
Burma
Iraq
Haiti
Afghanistan
Sudan
Guinea
Chad
Equatorial Guinea
DR Congo
TEN LEAST CORRUPT STATES
Denmark
Sweden
New Zealand
Singapore
Finland
Switzerland
Iceland
Netherlands
Australia
Canada Iraq has been ranked by Transparency International(TI) as one of the world's most... more
The World Bank has been attacked for withdrawing from the Chad, Cameroon pipeline project. A coalition of human rights and environmental Non-Governmental Organisations have accused it of bad faith by its recent withdrawal from the 4 billion dollars oil pipeline project that runs from Chad to Cameroon.
The coalition is made up of U.S.-based Environmental Defense Fund, the Chadian Association for Human Rights (ATPDH) and two Cameroon civil society groups, the Centre for Environment and Development (CED) and Network to Fight against Hunger (RELUFA).
"The project's outcome is disastrous. In the name of fighting poverty, it has rather contributed to impoverishing Chad's people and adding a new member to the petro-dictators' club,” a statement issued by the coalition said.
The World Bank last week announced its withdrawal from the pipeline project, one of its biggest investments in Africa. It accused the Chadian president of failing to comply with agreed commitments to set aside a chunk of its oil revenues for local communities, health and education.
However, Chad played down the bank’s pullout, saying its oil output was unaffected and that non-oil cooperation would continue. "The bank withdraws from this project without too much loss," the rights coalition said in its criticism, noting that Chad this month prepaid to the lender the outstanding balance of $65.7 million under the $140 million loan deal.
The coalition noted that the quality of life of the people of Chad and Cameroon, living along the length of the 1,000 km (620-mile) pipeline on its route to the Atlantic coast, had worsened. “Only the quality of life of Chadian president, Idriss Deby, and of the consortium led by Exxon Mobil has improved,” it said.
It should be noted that the pipeline started pumping crude oil from landlocked Chad in 2003, carries 170,000 barrels per day and continues to operate despite the World Bank pullout.
Source:
Solomon Tembang Mforgham,
AfricaNews
Limbe, CameroonThe World Bank has been attacked for withdrawing from the Chad, Cameroon pipeline... more
New legislation adopted on September 15, 2008 will permit the United States to prosecute foreign military commanders who recruit child soldiers abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. The Child Soldiers Accountability Act passed the House of Representatives unanimously on September 8 and was adopted by the Senate today.
The law makes it a federal crime to knowingly recruit or use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to bring charges under the law against both US citizens and non-citizens who are in the United States. The law imposes penalties of up to 20 years, or up to life in prison if death results, and allows the United States to deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers.
“The exploitation of children as soldiers persists in many armed conflicts because child recruiters are rarely held accountable,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocate for Human Rights Watch. “This law tells military commanders worldwide that they cannot recruit children into their forces and then seek safe haven in the United States.”
Children are currently used in armed conflicts in at least 17 countries. Recruiters prey upon children, who are often the most vulnerable potential recruits and the most susceptible to threats and coercion. Child soldiers are used as combatants, porters, guards and spies, and for other duties.
The recruitment and use of children as soldiers was recognized in 1998 as a war crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. In 2007, four former military commanders from Sierra Leone were convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for recruiting and using children as soldiers. Rebel and military commanders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have also been charged under the International Criminal Court with recruiting and using child soldiers, though none have yet gone to trial.
“International tribunals are beginning to prosecute individuals for recruiting child soldiers, but almost no national governments have done so,” said Becker. “The United States is giving real leadership to efforts to end the use of child soldiers.”
Senator Richard Durbin authored the bipartisan bill, which he introduced together with Senators Tom Coburn, Russell Feingold, and Sam Brownback.
Countries in which children are known to have been used in hostilities between 2004 and 2007 include: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Nepal, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/09/15/usdom19818.htm
New legislation adopted on... more
It is pitch black; the sun has not yet risen, but Achta Abakar Ibrahim is kneeling outside her straw home in Djabal refugee camp in southeastern Chad, praying to God.
She thanks Him that she escaped war in Sudan and that she and her family are now safe in Chad. She thanks Him that the Chadian people have welcomed her so openly and that humanitarian workers have helped her build a temporary life.
She still has scars on her back from the beatings she received while pregnant, by armed men she calls `janjaweed', who stormed her village in western Sudan, burning homes, killing men and raping women.
"Until now, I do not have peace of mind," she told IRIN in January, in a small sand yard outside her straw hut. "I think what happened will happen again, even at the level of the [refugee] camps."
According to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), which currently provides psycho-social support to some of the 250,000 Darfur refugees in Chad, trauma is a common problem.
"They talked about nightmares, about not being able to sleep, about hearing the bomber planes, about the orphans they found along the way from Sudan," said Rachel Zelon, former vice president of programme operations, who worked in Chad in 2004 when most Sudanese refugees arrived.
Four years later, the trauma continues, but in a different form. Julie Grier worked with the refugees early this year, as head of HIAS's team in the southeastern Chadian town of Goz Beida, the main town outside Djabal refugee camp.
"To realize that you have probably left your home forever is difficult," she told IRIN. "It's almost a trauma in itself.
"To realize that you are indefinitely going to have to rely on the assistance of other people can be disempowering, discouraging," she added, referring to a process of "learned helplessness" or unlearning how to help yourself.
"I feel I am living in dignity"
But despite these feelings, Abakar says she has much to be grateful for.
Her children never went to school in their home village of Tandoussa in Sudan - their father did not see it as a priority. Now they do, as is their right as international refugees. Those too young for school go to the nursery. Those too old have the option of literacy classes.
In their home villages, some Sudanese used to walk kilometres for unclean water, aid workers said. Now, clean water is just five minutes away in a public fountain constructed for the refugees.
Abakar used to pay every time she went to a hospital in Sudan, where "traditional doctors" were often part of the treatment. Now, when her children fall sick, she takes them to the free heath care clinic in the camp. And every month, she is guaranteed a ration of flour, oil, salt and sugar.
"I feel I am living in dignity," Abakar said. "The children go to school; they play with balls; they have fun; they have access to water. I thank God." *continues*It is pitch black; the sun has not yet risen, but Achta Abakar Ibrahim is kneeling... more
Rebels in Chad have released a US missionary, after holding him hostage for over than nine months, his church has reported.
Steven Godbold (!), from Illinois, had been held since last October, on suspicion of being a spy.Rebels in Chad have released a US missionary, after holding him hostage for over than... more
Everyday, $40,000 US dollars in oil is pumped out of Chadian farmer Richard Betalum's land, with only 5 percent invested back into public infrastructure.
Oil breeds greed and both oil corporations and governments don't give a damn about the people.Everyday, $40,000 US dollars in oil is pumped out of Chadian farmer Richard Betalum's... more
Bloggers in Africa fight government censorship to go above and beyond the role of mainstream journalists.Bloggers in Africa fight government censorship to go above and beyond the role of... more
