Chad is receiving about 400 Sudanese refugees daily, twice the rate recorded two months ago, while the number of arrivals since 2023 has reached about 1 million, amid funding shortages and a decline in humanitarian organisations’ ability to provide food, water and healthcare.
250,000 new refugees arrive in Chad
UN and international reports describe the situation in Sudan and neighbouring countries as one of the world’s most serious humanitarian crises, with displacement continuing and needs increasing. Mamadou Dian Balde, the UN refugee coordinator for Sudan, said at a press conference that 250,000 new refugees had arrived in Chad, noting that the country had received them and opened its doors to them.
Balde’s comments followed what he described as a painful visit to eastern Chad, near the border with the Darfur region, where he witnessed the difficulty of delivering aid and the continued arrival of people fleeing conflict, shelling and drone attacks. The UN official said available resources covered only 20% of refugees’ basic needs, leading to reduced food rations and preventing many people from being moved to safe locations or the provision of tents for the most vulnerable groups.
Accounts of violence and psychological trauma
He added that many refugees live in constant fear and suffer psychological trauma linked to what they experienced before crossing the border. Balde described scenes of violence he witnessed during the visit, saying he met young people who had been subjected to abuses and heard accounts of rape and violence.
He said the conditions he saw had not changed compared with his previous visit to the area a year and a half earlier, despite the time between the visits and the continued influx of refugees. Balde praised what he described as the generosity of the Chadian government and local communities, explaining that residents share their daily food with newcomers.
Shortages of medicine and water worsen suffering
He pointed to severe shortages of medicine, healthcare services and safe drinking water, as well as difficulties faced by medical and humanitarian teams in reaching some areas, worsening refugees’ suffering, particularly that of women and children, among the most vulnerable groups. In Adré in eastern Chad, directly on the border with West Darfur state, 140,000 refugees remain in the area and other border sites, according to Balde.
Balde said this shortage was adversely affecting health and living conditions and increasing the risks faced by refugees in border areas and host sites. On funding, the refugee coordinator said the organisation had requested 1.6 billion dollars to cover humanitarian needs but had received only 20% of the amount requested.
He added that the aid was intended to reach 7 countries neighbouring Sudan that host refugees, including Chad, Uganda and Egypt, warning that a continuing funding gap would deprive millions of refugees and displaced people of food, water and healthcare.
In response to a question about enlisting actor George Clooney to support the response, Balde said efforts by public figures and institutions were welcome, but stressed that security and peace were refugees’ primary needs. He called for international efforts to be united in addressing the crisis, as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned that funding shortages were threatening essential services and further worsening the living conditions of Sudanese refugees.
