The Darfur region in Sudan is one of the world’s major crisis zones: massive violence, displacement, and expulsion are part of daily life. Many people are fleeing to neighboring Chad. We are now supporting a school there.
By Simon Bethlehem
Bonn, November 19, 2025 – These days, one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 21st century has finally made it into German news coverage. After an 18-month siege, Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur province, has been taken over by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Mass executions, rape, torture, and displacement: a genocide is looming, and hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing.
None of this is new: similar events took place last year in Al-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. In April, the refugee camp Zamzam near Al-Fashir was attacked and systematically destroyed.
Despite millions of victims, the Darfur conflict receives little attention in Central Europe: too complicated, too far away, too few direct consequences for Europe.
Together with the organization Darfur-Hilfe, which has been active in the region for more than 20 years, we are launching a project for refugee children in the Chadian-Sudanese border town of Tiné: the expansion of a school.
A Conflict with a Long History
Darfur was widely covered in the media in 2003/2004. After years of tension, then-Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir armed the notorious Arab Janjaweed militias and unleashed them on the villages of Black African communities. They murdered, raped, looted, and burned indiscriminately. Even then, the term genocide was used. Although al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court, he was never brought before the court, as Sudan did not extradite him.
International peacekeeping forces were unable to resolve the conflict. At its core, it is about systemic neglect of the periphery, land disputes, and natural resources. The Sudanese government further ethnicized the conflict as a struggle between Arab nomads and Black African farmers.
When al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019 and a democratic government briefly took office, there was a faint hope for a peaceful solution. However, with the outbreak of civil war in April 2023, the conflict erupted again with brutal force. In this civil war, the RSF under former Janjaweed leader Hemeti is fighting the government under President al-Burhan.
External actors are now also involved: Gulf states, Egypt, Turkey, as well as China and Russia, directly or indirectly support one of the warring parties, perpetuating the violence.
Images from the region:
Severe Hardship, Flight, and Displacement
Across Sudan, about 13 million people are displaced according to the United Nations, and roughly 30 million rely on humanitarian assistance. In parts of Darfur, famine has been declared. Nearly all schools are closed due to fighting, and medical centers can barely operate.
Most displaced people move from hotspot to hotspot within Sudan, only to be forcibly displaced again. Even refugee camps offer no safety. As a result, more and more people are fleeing to neighboring Chad.
Since the outbreak of the civil war, around 900,000 Sudanese have found refuge in Chad. After 2003, around 400,000 people had already arrived and remain there to this day.
Most live in semi-desert camps just across the border, set up by the United Nations. Their shelters are simple tents or makeshift huts built from branches and plastic sheeting. Supplies are critically scarce, and the harsh environment provides barely any means of self-sufficiency.
Project Location: Tiné
Tiné-Chad is not a typical camp location. Twenty-five years ago, it was a small border post with only a few hundred inhabitants. Today, it has grown into a city of more than 100,000 people. Many are long-term displaced people from Darfur, but others have come from across Chad and various African countries. The economy created around displacement and humanitarian needs has made Tiné a lively place with a large market, trade, and economic opportunities.
Across a dry riverbed lies the sister town Tiné-Sudan in West Darfur.
Every day, more refugees from Darfur arrive in Tiné. They stay with relatives or at the transit camp, where they spend a few weeks before being relocated to one of the official camps in the area.
The Kefah School
The Kefah School run by Darfur-Hilfe was founded in 2004. What began with two classrooms has grown to 17. Around 1,200 students attend primary school (grades 1–6) and lower secondary school (grades 7–9). There is also a kindergarten.
Some classrooms are extremely makeshift: walls made from branches and plastic sheets with thatched roofs. Other permanent buildings are structurally damaged. Overall, the available space has long been insufficient. Most classes accommodate around 80 children at once.
The Grünhelme project
On our project visit in April we discussed with the school administration and Darfur-Hilfe that, as a first step, six new classrooms, two rooms for the kindergarten and new sanitation facilities should be built. The local school authority is also involved, even though the school is not in its area of responsibility because it follows the Sudanese curriculum.
The city administration has already issued the permits, so construction can begin in mid-December.
As in all our projects, we want to closely involve the school community in Tiné: the parents of the children are to help build the new rooms for their children together with us.
The implementation of this project is particularly close to our hearts, because Darfur is truly one of the world’s hotspots that, unfortunately, receives far too little attention or is quickly forgotten.
We are very grateful for any support!