Every day, families stream along the dry and dusty road to Chad, fleeing war and famine in Sudan – scenes which clearly shocked the UK foreign secretary.
Under a scorching sun, David Lammy visited the Adre border post on Friday to see first-hand the impact of Sudan’s civil war, which has erupted as the army and its former ally, the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF), split.
Those crossing the border are often separated from their families in the chaos to escape and are desperate to know if their relatives have made it safely.
“These are some of the most horrific things I’ve ever heard or seen in my life,” Lammy said.
“Overwhelmingly, here in Chad, on the border with Sudan, I have seen women and children fleeing for their lives – they tell stories of mass killings, mutilations, burning, sexual violence against them, their children. And amidst all this, hunger, hunger is such an incredible situation.”
The head of the foreign policy department saw how dozens of women, wrapped in bright colorful scarves and holding children of different ages in their arms, were crossing on horse-drawn carts.
They looked tired, sitting on sacks with the few things they could take with them on the long journey to safety.
“Alhamdulillah” means “praise be to God,” observes Halima Abdallah when I ask her how she felt after crossing the border.
The 28-year-old was relieved despite the tragedy she endured, losing one of her children as she fled Darfur, the western region of Sudan that has seen some of the most devastating violence in the past 21 months – much of which is said to be RSF was committed.
“At first I went to El Geneina, but I had to flee again when the fighting started there,” she says, explaining how she was later separated from her husband and two other children.
