The new arrivals in Otash camp were driven from their homes by armed militia, who are perceived by the displaced people to be conducting a campaign of terror against primarily African, land-tilling groups. Unlike a previous conflict in Sudan that pitted northern Muslims against southern Christians, this conflict is perceived by the displaced to be racially motivated.

I spoke with 60-year-old Abdulla Sherif, a sheikh (village elder), who shared a sad story. He said that one morning at dawn, a group of about 1,000-armed men invaded his village Zeughen in south Darfur. Some of the attackers were in vehicles while others rode on camels and horses. The men shot at everyone in the village, men, women and children, and they set houses on fire and stole livestock and anything else of value. “About eighty people were killed,” the sheikh said sadly.

I spoke with Halima Adam, 35, who had two children and a husband who was blind. When the attackers set her hut on fire, she tried to save her family. She managed to pull her husband and one child out of the flames, but when she went back for the second, a nine-year-old boy, it was too late. The hut was collapsing and a burning beam had fallen on her son. She escaped with severe burns that left scars all over her body except for her face.

The first thing I noticed is that new arrivals are very angry about what has happened. They told me they believed they were being attacked because they were African. Their stories really resonated with me because I am African too, born in Kenya. They told me they had trekked for two days to get to Otash, carrying children on their backs and sleeping in the bush. What I heard broke my heart. This war has been going on for too long!