Sudanese refugees are continuing to flee from Darfur in western Sudan into Chad to escape militia attacks, according to the NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). While the numbers remained unclear, pockets of people continued to cross the border every night when they could get across more easily, Sonia Peyrassol, MSF Operational Coordinator for Chad, told IRIN. Border officials appeared to be trying to stop the flow, she said, but it was unclear whether it was on the Sudanese or the Chadian side.

''They say oil is spurting out of the ground, but I haven't seen it yet,” says Faustin Gayande, a young man from the Chadian capital of N'djamena. He fears the oil revenue will not trickle down to the poor as a result of corruption and political repression. “There is a proverb from my area which says that when you catch a silurid, you've got to grab it by the head if you want to hang onto it; if you hold it by the tail, it could slip away. So Chadian oil is like a silurid because I haven't been able to grab it,'' says Gayande.