SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Humanitarian aid groups are calling the civil war in Sudan the forgotten war. Fueled by a conflict between the military government and a powerful paramilitary group, the U.N. estimates that over 2 million Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries.
NPR global health correspondent Fatma Tanis joins us from a border crossing between Sudan and Chad in a town called Adre, where thousands of Sudanese, mainly women, have sought safety. And a note to our listeners, our conversation will include descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Fatma, thank you for being with us.
FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: Thanks for having me, Scott.
SIMON: What are conditions like there at the border?
TANIS: Well, Scott, there's a constant stream of movement. People, mainly women and children, are coming in from Sudan into Chad, carrying meager belongings - just some clothes, some blankets, maybe. They cross a shallow stream of water, and then they are received here by aid organizations waiting to register them.
And I should say, nearby, there is a massive settlement of 215,000 people. I'm talking about just, like, an endless vast of makeshift tents made out of tarps and sticks as far as the eye can see, and this is where people have been staying. And I should say that I spoke with the U.N. Refugee Agency representative here earlier, and he said that 97% of those people are women and children.
SIMON: Fatma, what do you hear from refugees?
TANIS: You know, they describe all kinds of horrors. One woman I spoke to who came in yesterday from West Darfur - she said that the RSF, who are the Rapid Support Forces, a military group that's fighting the Sudanese army - they lined up 120 men in her town and just shot them all. No one survived. They gathered the villagers there to witness. And there are so many, so many stories like this. And that's also part of why there's so many women and children here - because the men have either been killed, or they've been disappeared, or they haven't been allowed to leave.
Another woman I spoke to - she came from Al Fashir, which is the main city in North Darfur, where recently there were famine conditions declared. And she told me about how her 7-year-old niece was assaulted and raped by four men in front of her mother. The child is now receiving treatment here in Chad. But, you know, Scott, there are just endless stories like this. Everyone has horrible, horrible things that they've witnessed that - they want the world to know about what's happening in Sudan.
SIMON: We can hear some sounds behind you. What's life like at that makeshift camp?
TANIS: Conditions here are really rough. Once people cross the border, they get processed by aid groups. They have quick screenings for health, vaccines, screenings for sexual assault. Then they have to register with the U.N.'s Refugee Agency. They get a hygiene kit with some soap. They get a plastic sheet, which many make tents out of, and then a mosquito net and four days' ration of food. Then people are pretty much on their own. They're hungry. They're thirsty. Conditions here are really not good.
But many are hoping to go back to Sudan. And I have to say, Scott, while there's so much pain and trauma here, I've also witnessed a lot of resilience. You know, the women I spoke with - they really want their children to have a good future where they're healthy and educated. They want to go back to their country and help fix it and make Sudan better.
SIMON: NPR's Fatma Tanis in Adre, Chad. Fatma, thanks so much for being with us.
TANIS: Thank you, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF HERMANOS GUTIERREZ'S "MESA REDONDA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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