Finding refuge from conflict in Sudan: longing to rebuild

Find out how Tearfund, supported by the Scottish Government, is helping Mustafa start again after the violence in Sudan.

Written by Tarryn Pegna | 02 May 2025

A man with brown eyes wearing a traditional head covering sits under a temporary shelter.

Mustafa and his family were forced to flee their home in Sudan when their village was attacked and burned. They sought shelter in a refugee camp in Chad where they have received some support from Tearfund’s local partners through funding from the Scottish Government. Credit: Mairo Mbaitessem/Tearfund

Mustafa* is 33. He and his wife have two daughters and a son. Our interviewer describes Mustafa as a calm man with lively, kind eyes, often found sitting in the shade of his shed, quietly watching the comings and goings of those around him.

The shed he sits under is a temporary structure made of millet stalks with plastic stretched over them to provide some respite from the scorching sun and the rain when it comes. It’s one of thousands of similar makeshift shelters in a camp for refugees, and it’s the place Mustafa and his family call home at the moment.

Before everything changed

The family used to live in a good house in a large village near the capital city of Sudan’s West Darfur state. Mustafa had a successful business that provided for them financially. He explains, ‘I was a trader. I sold a bit of everything, and many people were my customers, so I got to know each neighbour by his first name.’

Then, in April 2023, the day came when everything changed.

‘The fire, the screams, the fear,’ Mustafa recalls. ‘Our village was attacked. Burned. Those who survived fled. I, with my wife and my two children, set off into the unknown, and it took us almost two months to reach the border.’

The family arrived at Zabout refugee camp in Chad in June 2023, which is where they have lived since then – in their millet stalk shelter. It was here, in Zabout, that his wife gave birth to their third child.

‘I do what I can, even if it's not what I was before. The most important thing is that we're alive.’

Mustafa, Sudanese refugee in Chad

Longing to rebuild

Now, Mustafa takes whatever odd jobs he can get each day to try to provide for his family. Carrying, repairing, helping. Anything to be able to feed his children in the evening. ‘I do what I can, even if it's not what I was before,’ he says. ‘The most important thing is that we're alive.

‘A few months ago, I borrowed money from a gentleman to start a small business, but then he asked for it back, and I lost everything again overnight.’

In the camp, Mustafa isn’t known for talking much about the past and what he’s been through, but those who know him know that he carries a heavy burden behind his tranquil, uncomplaining demeanour.

His dream, Mustafa tells us, is one day to open a small store. Even if that’s here in Chad. To have a chance to start again.

Help for Mustafa and his family

Now, with the help of Tearfund through funding from the Scottish Government, that’s exactly what Mustafa is getting an opportunity to do. He has been able to receive a cash transfer which, he says, he plans to use to set up a small clothing business to get back on his feet – this time without needing a loan.

Conflict in Sudan

Since April 2023, violent conflict in Sudan has displaced nearly 9 million people within the country and a further 3 million have fled across the borders into neighbouring Chad, Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya and South Sudan.

Thousands of families, like Mustafa’s and Naima's, have sought safety in refugee camps, like Zabout. The journey to these camps is often fraught with danger. Many arrive with little more than the clothes they are wearing and carrying severe trauma from horrific violence they have experienced or witnessed.

The conflict has left 25 million people facing acute hunger.

Please pray with us for all those affected, and if you’d like to give to help Tearfund respond to situations like this around the world, please do so here.

*Name has been changed for protection.

Pray for Sudanese refugees

Pray for all those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods and been forced to flee to find safety. Pray for God’s provision and protection for them.
Lift up every person who has experienced or witnessed horrific violence. Pray that God will bring comfort and healing from the trauma.
Ask God for peace in Sudan. Pray for an end to the conflict and that people will be able to return home and rebuild their lives.