Prisoners in their own villages

Few elderly people manage to reach the relative safety of camps when they flee their homes because of fighting. "This is the grandmother of our village," says a group of women and girls who have fled their village out of fear that it would be attacked, following a spate of attacks in their region [Charlotte Brudenell, ACT/Caritas]

Many communities in West Darfur find themselves trapped by armed groups who prevent them from leaving their homes to go to safer areas

by Charlotte Brudenell, ACT/Caritas

A sand track leads north from Zalingei to the village of Abata, West Darfur, but these days few people travel along it.

The track is flanked by tall acacia trees, and every so often it cuts through a group of deserted, roofless shells of buildings. The countryside is silent. Where there were villages, only the wind now speaks through the trees.

"I lived here for one year," says Awadulla, the driver, as we pass through Boulle, a village halfway between Zalingei and Abata.

"Over there, eighty five people died, thirty of them women. Shooting started from here, on the edge of the village."

The large tobacco factory, school, shops, and homes have all been destroyed and abandoned. Apart from a group of grazing camels and their four young herders, there is not a soul to be seen.

Prevented from leaving

In Abata, at the beginning of 2004, there were more than 20,000 displaced people in temporary shelters. They had been forced to leave their villages in the surrounding area due to fighting between different armed groups involved in the conflict.

Abata could not sustain so many people so, despite the risk of further attack, many people paid to travel in lorries to the more secure camps around Zalingei, where aid agencies are present.

Now the people of Abata no longer travel to Zalingei. They cannot. The men cannot even go to the fields. The village has become their prison, as armed groups prevent them from leaving.

Abata is predominantly a farming community and the crops, which the armed groups need to sustain themselves, are one of the reasons they are being forced to stay in the village.

Unable to reach any other market, the villagers have no option but to sell to their captors.

"We cannot go outside to get work nor sell our crops in other markets," explains Mohammed, the sheikh of Abata. "As a result the whole economy of the village has been affected by the conflict."

Tired of the harassment, lack of security, and poor conditions, several families from villages in the area of Abata finally managed to reach the Zalingei camps, set up by ACT/Caritas, a network of faith-based and Sudanese agencies of which CAFOD is a part.

The ACT/Caritas team has provided blankets, wash basins, plates, soap and cooking sets to assist the new arrivals - but many more still remain trapped in their own villages.

For many displaced people in the camps, the presence of international humanitarian agencies is the only deterrent and protection they have.

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related resources

Darfur prayer: Five years on (25.50 kB) A prayer and reflection written by The Catholic Bishop of El Obeid, Antonio Menegazzo - whose diocese includes Darfur - to mark the fifth anniversary of the conflict in the region

Darfur & Chad (1.10 MB) 14-slide powerpoint including notes for teachers, giving all the background to the conflict in Sudan - accompanies the launch of CAFOD's Darfur & Chad Appeal in May 2007

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