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Editor's note: Ann recently returned from a trip to Chad and Darfur, Sudan. She wrote a few other dispatches while there and took a handful of digital photos that you can read and view here. We'll air one of her reports from the region tonight, including an interview with the president of Chad.
Ann at the Gaga refugee camp in Chad. Photo by Mick Turner, Pilgrim Security.
Though the ethnic cleansing in Darfur is now bleeding across the border into neighboring Chad, you can't tell it from the faces of the children at Gaga refugee camp, rushing forward to shake your hand. Animated and giggling, they reach out to meet you, eager to practice their English or French, repeating whatever you say, joyful, curious.
"Hello, hello, ca va, ca va," they say and grin. Their dark faces are chalky white, from the dust and sand that also coats their clothes and even their eyelashes. But the smiles belie what these beautiful children have seen, and when you look deep into their eyes, you can glimpse the horror that haunts them.
How could a child not struggle after seeing first hand the crime of ethnic cleansing, when adults can barely comprehend it?
Only now, after emerging from this place of pain, does this reporter begin to understand the horror of what is happening.
It was sparked in 2003 as Arab militias, which the U.S. says are backed by the government of Sudan, systematically began targeting poor blacks in the region known as Darfur — killing, raping, looting and burning hundreds of villages. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have been killed - more that 2 million have been displaced.
Why? Because some of the poor in Darfur, fed up, essentially, with taxation without representation, started to rebel against their government. The Arab-led government, experiencing similar trouble elsewhere in the country, reacted with fury, igniting buried racial tensions among Arabs who've lived in Sudan for centuries.
Thus was launched this reign of terror by the Arab militias known as the "Janjaweed." Imagine the fear of the villagers, seeing them ride in on horses, guns blazing, backed by Sudanese military hardware, including attack helicopters.
Pretty ugly stuff, and though the U.S. has taken the lead in calling it genocide, neither it nor any other country in the world has stopped it. Now this killing is spreading.
The people of Chad, living along the Darfur, Sudan border are being killed and raped, their villages looted and burned. Every survivor we talked to described Arabs on horseback, shouting racial slurs and,
"You are black slaves."
"This is Arab land, not your land."
"If you stay, Arabs will come to kill you."
One U.S. official told me the Sudanese government let a monster out of the bottle and now can't put it back.
But the President of Chad, himself criticized for supporting the Sudanese rebels, and thus encouraging the violence, says Sudan doesn't want to put the monster back. In a rare interview, he told us he believes the government of Sudan is deliberately pushing the Darfur war into Chad, and he predicted it could spread to other countries as well.
"The clock is ticking. I swear to God," he said, predicting that if the world does not intervene, it could be "worse than Rwanda."
The world is considering sending UN peacekeepers and the President of Chad told us he would authorize having foreign troops and even U.S. or NATO warplanes in Chad to enforce a no-fly zone, to stop the threat.
Both Chad and Sudan are staging significant military buildups on the border, and rebel groups against both governments are there also, intensifying the threat.
The bottom line, the fire has jumped the line, and the whole place is set to explode.
Knowing this, you worry about the people in harm's way, including these haunted children in Gaga refugee camp, who seem so happy just to see you smile. Your pockets full of candy are empty as you head to the vehicle feeling guilty that you can leave, when they can't. Through the window, you wave goodbye, and then look down at your hands, and see small cuts. The children had grabbed for you so hard, they drew blood.
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Playing offense
I believe that the reason this issue has primarily been ignored is that Darfur has no natural resources and therefore no one can go in there on a pretence of helping those poor people. If it were oil or diamond rich they would be tripping overselves to "help". In the meantime people are being murdered, raped and burned to death. Shame on this country and the EEC for standing by while human beings are being slaughtered like pigs. Shame on us all. Someone has to DO something. PLEASE HELP THEM.
PHIL, NY (Sent Jan 23, 2007 8:28:24 AM)
So many of you sound so bitter about Ann, about the media. I can be too, but for now, these are the vehicles for change that we have.
What have YOU done to make a positive difference in the world? What are you going to do?
Sitting here complaining about being bamboozled sure isn't helping anyone.
(Sent Jun 25, 2006 7:02:55 PM)
Kudos to you Ann! I can't help but wonder where the coverage has been? Too dangerous? I find that hard to accept when reporters were imbedded with the troops in Iraq during combat. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS STORY END HERE,KEEP TELLING IT.
larry, Madison, WI (Sent Mar 14, 2006 10:50:43 PM)
When they discover oil in poor countries such as this then American politicians like this administration will be "appaled" by the atrocities and we will invade them! Until then, these poor people will be just a footnote.
Sue F (Sent Mar 14, 2006 6:59:11 PM)
Mr williams comment last night that media coverage of the Darfur genocide has been hampered by the dangers is simply ridiculous. The BBC has been covering the genocide for a long time, and very well. Thanks Ann Curry, your story really touched me. Please continue to cover this story. How can we care or try to do something if most Americans don't even know. I hope the American media can restore our faith in them again.
Grisel Ortiz-Howell, Scarsdale, NY (Sent Mar 14, 2006 5:56:52 PM)
Please don't stop your coverage--while it may be late in coming, it is vital. Too often horror goes unreported, especially if the vicitims are poor, or of color, or are of a religious "minority." My hope is that you will broaden your coverage, and in turn other news outlets will follow you.
Robin Rone, Chicago, IL (Sent Mar 14, 2006 3:45:16 PM)
I was so appalled to hear your news anchor Brian Williams of 'nbc nightly news'state that the reason the Darfur story has not taken centre stage is because of the high risk of sending your journalist there.
Now tell me how dangerous is it than going to Iraq or to the Gaza strip where killings occur daily? I really can't see the difference.I am convinced that not enough is being done to bring forth this story.Until now it no different than the treatment of the Rwanda story.
Albeit,kudos to Ann Curry who braved it all to tell a very important story.A journalist at heart!
Stacey McKoy, Jamaica West Indies (Sent Mar 14, 2006 3:16:49 PM)
i saw this story and thw whole thing makes me VERY ANGRY AT THIS COUNTRY . i guess we can thank joey cheek for bringing this story into the hearts ans minds of his fellow countyman when he made the choice to give his olmypic medal money to this cause . as a women this really makes me angry rape is the most discusting thing that can happen to any women and to make the women and girls feel like they deserve to
have this happen makes my blood boil . lets hope THAT SOMEONE IN THIS COUNTRY OTHER THAN MR. CHEEK STOPS AND TAKES NOTICE OF THIS. HEAR ME MR. PRESIDENT.
linda baltimore .md (Sent Mar 14, 2006 12:26:18 PM)
PLEASE continue to cover this important story. The world needs to know what is happening in Sudan and Chad. It is NBC's responsibility to keep us informed.
Anne-Marie Kim (Sent Mar 14, 2006 10:16:50 AM)
I agree with Doug Kiersey and Mary Meadows. It's about time that the American media cover what the UN now calls the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. This issue needs to be addressed to everyone in this country.
Eleanore Kelly, Memphis, TN (Sent Mar 14, 2006 10:16:42 AM)
I watch this coverage like one watches a horror movie. I peep between my fingers. Knowing about the horror and more horrors to come keeps me riveted. My heart goes out to all the victims and also to those with NBC that are bearing witness.
Kim Barker, Baton Rouge, LA (Sent Mar 14, 2006 9:01:00 AM)
Some people will be shocked to hear about this. Some won't care because it's happening on the otherside of the world. Some will express anger and cry about if we can help Iraq and Kuwait why not Chad? Some will even say it is a racist issue.
The sad truth in all of this is simple economics. The poor get what they can afford and the less you have the less you get. Look at what the budget cuts are targetting. Why not cut the automatic raise for elected officails before health care? Face it we live in a keep the poor down and the rich out of trouble world. Kuwait and Iraq have oil. What can Chad export? When Jews where being murdered public out cry brought it to the front of the news. When Cheney shot a man why wasn't he given a blood alcohol test right away? Protect the rich and keep the poor down.
After all is said and done if Chad can't pay for ammo nobody is gonna supply the guns. It isn't right, morale, fair, pretty, or whatever nice way you want to put it. Unless oil, rubies, diamonds, or gold is found in a large enough supply; the rape, murder, and starvation will continue while the world turns a blind eye.
Tony Williams, Raleigh, NC (Sent Mar 14, 2006 1:05:34 AM)
Thank You NBC for finally covering this important story. It is about time the American media covered this very important story. I have always felt that Ann Curry is a walking angel, this only reinforces my belief.
Mary Meadors, Chicago, IL (Sent Mar 13, 2006 9:10:48 PM)
HELLO, hello, where've ya been??
Seeing Ann in the middle of all those black faces sure gives her credibility!
Enough of the heart rendering stats. Get on with pressure on the adminstration.
Allan on Cape (Sent Mar 13, 2006 7:07:58 PM)
Gee! after reading this do we have any newsmen ( or women) who would want to run for President. They seem to know all the answers or if not, the problems. How about some suggestions Dave.
Marty (Sent Mar 13, 2006 4:45:07 PM)
Why is this story suddenly more newsworthy now than at any point in the last three years? Why now versus, say, during the Winter Olympics or during the furor over the ports or Cheney's hunting accident or Scooter Libby or the Alabama church fires or? ....you get the point. My conclusion is that given finite air time and reporting resources you have to make daily judgments about what constitutes "news", and that in the absence of something of more immediate interest to the average American, the Darfur story has finally found its way to the top of the stack. The slaughter is three years old and counting. Are we to believe the story now has validation because Ann was there?
Doug Kiersey, Winnetka, IL (Sent Mar 13, 2006 3:58:43 PM)
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