ABU SHOUK CAMP, Sudan - Hawa Abdallah Mohamed says she fled to this miserable camp after government forces and state-backed militia attacked her village in North Darfur almost five years ago.
But instead of refuge, she found the same violence here that has killed as many as 200,000 people and driven 2 million more from their homes to create one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Now she and others in Abu Shouk Camp say a joint United Nations-African Union force is their only chance at finally knowing safety.
"It's so important that this force, which we have asked for for so long, will protect us in the camps where we now find the same rape and killing we fled from," the 23-year-old said.
The 26,000-strong mission, which is due to deploy around Jan. 1, will take over from struggling AU peacekeepers who have failed to stem violence in Sudan's west.
Refugees hope the peacekeepers will put a stop to rapes and killings, remove settlers from their lands and disarm the militias who drove them away.
But while the force hopes to be able to at least protect civilians, Khartoum has refused to let it have a mandate to disarm militias. Western states have also failed to provide helicopters and other needs, casting doubt on its effectiveness.
"NO FUTURE"
The United Nations, under pressure from Western governments, has tried for years to win support from Khartoum for an international force for Darfur where rebels took up arms against the government in 2003 charging neglect.
The Sudanese government responded in part by arming militias, known locally as Janjaweed and accused of atrocities against civilians, to put down the revolt.
The government says only 9,000 people have died in Darfur, and denies arming the Janjaweed, which Khartoum calls outlaws.
Elderly Khadija Ibrahim Mahmoud said she had first-hand experience with Janjaweed. She saw them burn houses, killing toddlers in their beds.
