Today, I went to the Chad-Sudan border - Darfur starts behind the trees. It was eerie to see a RSF checkpoint, the first houses, a telco mast and Sudanese crossing to shop. It looked peaceful but there's also a rather dark backstory showing the conflict's complexity.. 
1. You can't see much on the mobile phone pictures but there is in the background a tent housing RSF fighters next to the first houses -- they check Sudanese crossing into to a Chadian village. The border is just a wadi separating two villages.
2. There was a market day on the Chadian side. You can see Darfuris coming with carts to buy sugar, fruit and beans. It was a constant flow of people. Chadian security checks everyone but lets civilians pass. Chad has an open door policy for refugees.
3. Now it gets even more interesting. Many market traders were Darfuris -- people among the 750k who'd fled the conflict. I was surprised that Sudanese pounds were changing hands.... The vendors had businesses in Darfur, lost it and try to make a new start in Chad. So far so good
4. So where is the dark side ? The vendors are victims of RSF's killings. Many are from the Masalit or other non-Arab tribes targeted by the Arab-led RSF. They were victims of "Janjaweed" fighters in the first Darfur war. They simply cant go back though they lived close.
5. And the Sudanese shoppers ? There could be a harmless explanation as there has been no recent fighting in this area so some normal life has resumed for the villagers living next to Chad. But ...
5. the shoppers come from villages where RSF is in charge and are (apparently) from groups which have at least arranged themselves (if not worked) with the RSF. People on the Chadian side said the RSF only lets those cross who are not against them. So some Darfuris suffer less
6. It's great that markets in Chad serve food-scarce Darfur. But it also shows Sudan's complexity with pockets of peace amid despair just nearby and different dynamics. El-Geneina city is another case. The RSF is accused of having killed or expelled non-Arabs. Arabs stayed.
7. I remember from covering Darfur for @Reuters 2011-13 that you had camps such as Zam Zam full of Africans tribesmen, mostly farmers, who had fled. Their abandoned fields were sometimes just 10km away -- but they couldn't go back as Arabs backed by Khartoum were cultivating them
8. After the border trip I met many Masalit in a camp who had fled El Geneina - they said Arab neighbours had helped the RSF identify them. But some 30,000 (mostly Arabs) are thought to have remained in El Geneina (once a major city)
9. The refugees are unlikely to return as RSF controls much of Darfur/Sudan. Next to the camp is an old one from the 2000s when 400,000 fled. Like Zam Zam camp in Darfur tents became houses -- see the difference. Some new arrivals now collect stones assuming they cant go back
10. Another interesting detail of Sudan's complexity is that despite the wars Darfur used to supply eastern Chad with food and petrol, even imports coming via Port Sudan. Darfuris are great business people and found ways to keep trading routes open
11. Now, food is brought from as far as N'Djamena and Cameroon to the east - prices for sugar or petrol have risen 4-5 times, adding to the hardship in one of the world's poorest regions. This is what a roads looks like in the eastern Chadian countryside.
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