Escaping Darfur: Mothers face starvation under trees in Chad

Darfur, Sudan – Under a lone tree in the Iridimi refugee camp in eastern Chad, 45-year-old Thuraya Mukhtar sits quietly, trying to piece together the remnants of a life that was safe before war tore it from its roots. Just a week ago, the deafening roar of explosions and relentless gunfire forced her to abandon her home in the Orchi area of western Sudan. She left behind her life’s work and dreams, carrying across the border only the inescapable, haunting identity of a refugee. “I left without realising that I would never return. I carried my children and ran, with fire behind us and bullets over our heads,” Thuraya told Al Jazeera, her voice steady but laced with exhaustion. “We haven’t eaten for two days, and my children are crying from hunger. I don’t know how I will feed them tomorrow, or where I will sleep tonight.” Thuraya is but one of thousands of women now bearing the crushing weight of forced displacement. In their eyes lies an endless narrative of fear, hunger and wandering. In silence, they search for a single drop of water for children who ask them every day: When are we going home? A trail of ashes The devastation that drove Thuraya into the Chadian desert began on June 15 , when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a sweeping offensive on the Orchi area in the Um Baru locality of North Darfur. Riding horses and camels and backed by heavily armed mechanised vehicles, the fighters left a trail of absolute ruin. …