Demagogue

The UN says that southern Sudan is unprepared to deal with the expected return of more than a million refugees who fled during the 20 year civil war.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir vowed to bring peace to the Darfur region and will put Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, the man who helped negotiate the accord with the southern rebels, in charge of peace efforts.

Amy Costello, the FRONTLINE/World reporter who brought us the recent story on Darfur participated in a live discussion on the Washington Post's website yesterday

Calgary, Alberta, Canada: To what extent are the displaced people of Sudan aware of the world's actions, or more importantly lack thereof, in regards to their situation and what actions or solutions do they propose, other than the mass camps which seem to be a band aid solution at best.

Amy Costello: Hello Canada. In my travels around Darfur, and also in the refugee camps in neighboring Chad, I found that most people had little knowledge about the circumstances that led to their villages being attacked. Nor did they know much about what the scope of the international response has been. Most people in Darfur are peasant farmers, without much formal education. There's certainly few radios or other news sources that would enable people to understand the situation beyond their immediate vincinity.

What was clear to the people, however, was that aid would be provided to them if they moved into United Nations camps set up in Chad. Or they could go to any of the camps within Darfur and get assistance there, too.

During my visit to Chad, I saw people who'd been living for months alone at the border without any assistance at all. Eventually Red Cross trucks would arrive and bring them to camps where they could be fed and housed.

People in Darfur are also keenly aware of the precarious security situation in their villages. Most people I spoke with say they refuse to return home any time soon. They say they want concrete assurances that they will not be attacked if they go home. I found many people still hiding in mountains and they had literally been there for months. They say they want to see more troops on the ground before they'll return home.