Sudanese refugees arriving in Chad find relative safety, but the trauma does not end at the border. Sleepless nights, stomach aches, anxiety – 1 million refugees from Darfur, mostly women and children, carry invisible scars.
The UN has confirmed that:
rape is being used deliberately and systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan.
The EU supports mental health care for those in distress, but the needs are enormous. Many survivors remain silent. Others feel compelled to speak out, refusing to let the world forget what is happening in Darfur.
Asma lay battered and barely conscious on a donkey cart when paramilitary fighters stopped her and her sister.
‘Why is she lying down?’ they demanded. Her sister replied that Asma had just given birth and that the baby had died. It was a lie, a desperate attempt to appeal to their compassion and avoid further abuse.
After the bombing of ZamZam, – a displaced camp just south of El Fasher – that killed 11 of her family members, she had set out with 3 girl friends to look for her missing children, who had fled in the panic of the attacks. On the road, they were intercepted by 3 Rapid Support Forces fighters who beat them and raped them throughout the night.