Die Krise der amerikanischen Führung erreicht eine leere Wüste

Lynsey Addario spent several days photographing and speaking with some of the refugees streaming into Tiné, a barren desert town in eastern Chad—where “the first humanitarian crisis of the post-American world is unfolding,” Anne Applebaum writes in her introduction to Addario’s photo essay.

Addario’s photos capture the desperation of people fleeing the civil war in Sudan’s Darfur region. Thousands of refugees have recently arrived in Tiné after enduring long journeys in relentless, 100-degree heat. “Many have nothing—they have been beaten, robbed, or raped along the way—and almost nothing awaits them in Tiné,” Applebaum writes in her introduction. “Due in part to the Trump administration’s devastating cuts to foreign aid, only a skeleton staff of international humanitarian workers are on hand to receive them. There are shortages of food, water, medicine, and shelter in Tiné, and few resources to move people anywhere else.”

Jean-Paul Habamungu Samvura, who represents the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in eastern Chad, told Addario that in his 20-year career, he could not recall refugees ever being offered so little. “In theory, the Trump administration still supports emergency humanitarian aid,” Applebaum writes. “But in practice, the cuts to logistics and personnel, abrupt changes to payments, and the associated chaos have hampered all of the international humanitarian organizations working in Tiné and everywhere else.”

Eyewitnesses told Addario of people dying of thirst on the way to Tiné, and malnourished children arriving among the refugees. Local Sudanese groups are collecting donations from overseas and have begun offering meals, but if the number of displaced people continues to grow, these volunteers will also need more resources.

Although leaders express concern about Sudan at the United Nations and in other international forums, Addario’s images show how little relief is available to the country’s refugees. “The people in these photographs seem to have been abandoned in an empty landscape,” Applebaum notes. “As the United States withdraws and international institutions decay, their ordeal may be a harbinger of what is to come.”

See the collection of photos here: [https://theatln.tc/Hv4fb0zy](https://theatln.tc/Hv4fb0zy) 

— Evan McMurry, senior editor, audience and engagement, *The Atlantic*