Chad - Flash Update : New Arrivals from Sudan in Eastern Chad - 12 June 2025

New arrivals from Sudan, relocation challenges and cholera threat

The 11 April 2025 attacks on Zamzam IDP camp and El Fasher in North Darfur set off a new wave of movements to previously less affected provinces by the influxes in the east of Chad. Today, the Wadi Fira and Ennedi Est provinces are quickly being overwhelmed by the sudden movements which, albeit slowing, are continuing at an impressive pace. Similarly, at the Adré border crossing in the Ouaddaï province, the influx of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees, most of whom are coming from in and around Nyala in Sudan, continues. Since the beginning of June, an average 740 people cross into the Eastern border of Chad daily.

At the same time, the fragile security environment at the border with Sudan has made refugee relocation operations away from the border as important as ever for both the Government and the humanitarian community. Additionally, with the imminent rainy season and the ensuing filling of Wadis, the risk of losing humanitarian access in key zones of intervention is likely. For this reason, the acceleration of the relocation, combined with the prepositioning of stocks in zones at risk of being cut off are essential. Under the leadership of the Government, OCHA is supporting the development of the 2025 national flood contingency plan.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is planning to relocate 130,000 new Sudanese refugees in the East. In Ouaddaï province, 63,000 refugees will be relocated from the Adré spontaneous site (where 173,000 people are living) to the Dougui site (35,000), as well as extensions to the Kouchaguine-Moura (18,000), Metché (5,000) and Aboutengué (5,000) sites. In Wadi-Fira, UNHCR plans to relocate 66,000 refugees from the Tiné transit centre and the spontaneous sites of Birak and Koulbous. On 22 May, the Prime Minister called for an acceleration of the relocation of refugees away from border areas.

Refugees and returnees crossing into eastern Chad are arriving in a context of existing extreme humanitarian needs. Today, the eastern provinces of Chad host 4.5 million people, including 3 million host community members among which nearly 1 million are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The refugee population has exploded from 400,000 in early April 2023, to over 1.2 million by June 2025 – a three-fold increase in two years. In total, more than half of the population in Eastern Chad requires urgent humanitarian support. (Please, download to continue reading).