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N'Djamena June 24, 2023 - The number of people arriving in Chad as a result of the violence in Sudan is increasing rapidly, causing a serious humanitarian crisis.
Most of the people crossing the border into Chad are women and children, who arrive in a state of total destitution, many of them with injuries, sometimes serious. Survivors' accounts describe violent attacks on civilians in Sudan, murders and the destruction of villages in and around El-Geneina.
The government of Chad has mobilized all possible resources to secure the border zone and provide assistance to the refugees. In an act of solidarity, the President of the Transition visited the border town of Adré on June 17 and 18, bringing with him truckloads of food. The President shared a meal with refugees housed in schools and other makeshift sites in Adré. He reiterated the Chadian government's commitment to continue working with its partners to provide humanitarian aid and ensure the safety of refugees fleeing this atrocious war.
"Humanitarian agencies are working closely with the government to provide essential protection services, such as emergency shelter, access to drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and healthcare, as well as psychosocial support to the most vulnerable people in the affected areas. Our primary objective is to ensure their safety and well-being, while facilitating their resettlement in safer areas away from the border", said Ms Violette Kakyomya, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System/Humanitarian Coordinator for Chad.
As part of the humanitarian response, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in close collaboration with the Commission nationale d'accueil de réinsertion des réfugiés et des rapatriés (CNARR), has relocated some 25,000 people to extensions of seven (7) existing refugee camps and two newly created camps in eastern Chad. However, the challenges were exacerbated by the onset of torrential rains in eastern Chad. The flooding of wadis and roads has severely hampered operations and made roads impassable.
UNHCR and its partners are providing non-food items and hot meals to refugee households, expanding existing refugee camps and building three (3) new refugee camps and a transit center, while the World Food Program (WFP) has distributed food to over 105,000 refugees, returnees and vulnerable members of host communities. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has distributed multi-purpose financial aid to 12,874 returnees and, in coordination with other partners, is providing plastic sheeting as a basic building block for rain shelters and latrines. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other partners are providing reproductive health services.
In Adre, the government and humanitarian partners provide medical care through the hospital and mobile clinics. Water trucking is also underway, and boreholes and latrines are being built with the help of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners.
Faced with the escalating conflict in Sudan, the Chadian government estimates that many more people will seek shelter in Chad over the next six months. "Faced with this crisis and the people it has to care for, Chad cannot currently solve the problem on its own. We are asking the international community to mobilize further to help us ensure continuity of services for refugees, returnees and host populations, as well as care for the injured," said Dr Abdelmadjid Abderahim, Minister of Public Health and Prevention, one of the members of the government who travelled to Adré with the Head of State. The Ministry of Health is mobilizing more human and material resources to reinforce existing services in health facilities in border areas.
The conflict in Sudan is also having an impact on host communities in Chad, disrupting the country's supply chain and exacerbating the difficulties faced by vulnerable populations in the east of the country. Prices of staple foods in the region have more than doubled since the start of the conflict. Before the recent influx, the country was already home to over a million forcibly displaced people, including 407,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
The combined effort of the government and the humanitarian community has been significant in the acute emergency period, but the scale of this crisis means that more funding is urgently needed to save lives.
The government and its partners are urgently calling for greater mobilization of the international community to respond to this ongoing crisis. “It is more than urgent that an international conference or round table be convened very quickly to mobilize funds to help Chad face the multiple challenges of managing refugees at this time of the onset of the rains. Such funds, support or aid would enable psychosocial, food, health, educational, settlement or accommodation care, etc., to be provided. Without your concern, your solidarity and your heartfelt support, Chad will not be able to bear the burden of this crisis alone," declared Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo.
For more information, please contact:
M. Fidel Komono Pofiné, Directeur de la Communication de la Primature, komonofidel@gmail.com,Tel :(+235) 66 27 18 49 Tadjadine Mahamat All-Amin, Directeur de la Communication du Ministère de la Santé publique et de la prévention, mhttadj7@yahoo.fr, Tel : (+235) 66 22 11 12 M. Pascal Dohou Ferso, Chargé de communication, Bureau de la Coordination du système des Nations Unies au Tchad pascal.ferso@un.org, Tel : (+235) 66 66 16 71 Mme Fragkiska Megaloudi, Chargée de l’information publique OCHA, fragkiska.megaloudi@un.org, Tel : (+235) 68 000 841