Darfurian Refugee Daoud Ibarahaem Hari On His Return to Darfur to Help Expose the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

The situation in Darfur has been described by the United Nations as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than 200,000 people have been killed and two and a half million displaced in fighting between rebels and government-backed militias since early 2003. While the Bush administration has described the situation as a genocide, only three Darfuris have reportedly been granted refugee status in the United States in the past four years. My next guest is one of those three. His name is Daoud Ibarahaem Hari. He arrived in the US eight weeks ago after a nightmarish ordeal in his home country.

Daoud fled Sudan in 2003 after an attack on his village in northern Darfur. His brother was killed and his family was scattered across Sudan. Daoud eventually found refuge in neighboring Chad. Then, he did something that few of his fellow hundreds of thousands of refugees have done: He went back to Darfur. Using a false name and passport, Daoud returned six times over the next three years, leading Western journalists through the region.

In August 2006, he and American journalist Paul Salopek - a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the Chicago Tribune - and their driver were imprisoned in Darfur by the Sudanese government for 35 days. Daoud endured harsh treatment including torture and threats to his life. After international pressure, the three were eventually released. Daoud returned to Chad where he was granted refugee status by the United States. He now lives in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

* Daoud Ibarahaem Hari. Thirty-three year-old refugee from Darfur who was imprisoned last summer with an American journalist in Darfur. He has been resettled to the United States.

* Christopher Nugent. Attorney with the law firm, Holland & Knight in Washington, DC.

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