WUNRN
Some women in Dosseye camp have been
accused of witchcraft, which UNHCR hopes to debunk through a health and
community awareness campaign. © UNHCR/H.Caux
UNHCR News Stories
Witchcraft allegations plague southern Chad's camps
DOSSEYE,
Chad, October 25 (UNHCR) – When 11 refugees fell ill and died within a single
week earlier this year at the Dosseye refugee camp in southern Chad, witchcraft
allegations swirled through the community and led to cases of assault and
arson.
In one
incident, three siblings died within an hour and Adjara*,
a widowed mother of eight in the camp, was attacked by 15 others who accused
her of cursing the children.
"They
burnt my house and even though I swore on the Koran that I am not a witch, they
wouldn't believe me," explained Adjara as she prepared dinner under the
protection of the camp's gendarmes.
Adjara, an
ethnic Peul refugee from the Central African Republic (CAR), has yet to be
accepted by a community in any of the three camps in south-western Chad. Her
original camp, Dosseye, is host to over 5,500 of the 45,000 CAR refugees in
Chad. Two-thirds of the refugees are ethnic Fulbé/Peul, who recognize both the
existence of witches and the role of the traditional healer and exorcist.
Josiane
Nguerebaye, from UNHCR's community services team, said after the 11 deaths –
mostly from diarrhoea, malaria and malnutrition – "other refugees really
lost faith in their ability to recover from illnesses and lost faith in modern
medicines." Many went exclusively to the traditional healers in the camps
for treatment, and if they succumbed to their illnesses it was often explained
as witchcraft.
"People
had stopped drinking the well water and started getting their water from the
swamps and rivers around the camp. Others were either not going to the health
clinic or were going there too late," said Nguerebaye. "It caused
huge [health] problems."
Seven
awareness sessions were organized by UNHCR and its partners to try to end this
vicious circle that had refugees turning away from modern medicine.
"The
sessions weren't about the existence of witches or witchcraft, but instead
focused on health, sanitation, community cohesion and the danger of accusing
people without evidence," explained Dosseye's camp manager, Gatsia
Tounakissia, who works for UNHCR's partner organization, CARE International.
But Assiatou* has no doubt about the presence of witches and
spirits among people. With her CAR government papers in front of her, the
43-year-old woman explained she has been a certified healer, exorcist and
clairvoyant since she was 15 years old.
Since
arriving in Chad as a refugee a year and a half ago, 30 people have come to her
for treatment but she admits that she can't heal everyone. For illnesses like
malaria or diarrhoea, she says, she refers people directly to the camp health
clinic.
In a July
court decision, a Chadian judge in Goré cleared the four accused of witchcraft
of any wrongdoing. The judge also clarified that the CAR certificates verifying
the status of some women as exorcists and traditional healers were not
recognized in Chad.
In addition,
Yambenou Clestin, a community health officer in Dosseye, feels the awareness
sessions are starting to work: "The [Cooperazione Internazionale-run]
health clinic has begun to see an increase in use and refugees are reacting
sooner when they get sick."
However,
despite the verdict, the atmosphere in the camps remains hostile toward the
acquitted women and several, including Adjara, have yet to return to the main
camp communities. While humanitarian workers in southern Chad work to
reintegrate the women, it's clear that violence and accusations could flare up
again if other refugees fall ill.
By Bryn
Boyce
in Dosseye, Chad
* Names changed to
protect refugees' identity
Story date: 25 October 2007
UNHCR News Stories
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