UN Needs $214 Million To Aid Surge Of Sudan Refugees In Chad
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees needs emergency donations following the rising number of Sudanese refugees arriving in Chad as the number fleeing the conflict there passes 100,000.
There has been a surge of refugees fleeing Sudan to Chad and aid agencies say they need hundreds of millions of dollars from the international community, The United Nations has said.
The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Chad needs $214.1 million to provide vital protection and assistance for forcibly displaced people as the number of new arrivals there has surpassed the 100,000 mark.
The Eastern part of Chad is filling with refugees, yet the country’s needs are funded at only 16 per cent of what is needed, Laura Lo Castro, head of the agency in Chad, has said.
Camps for displaced people must be built and people massing on the Chadian side of the border relocated to them before the rains start in a few weeks, the agency said.
Over 100,000 Sudanese refugees are living in the provinces of Ouaddai, Sila, and Wadi Fira, following a political conflict that started on April 15.
“Reports from our teams at the border indicate that new waves of arrivals are continuing”, said Lo Castro.
The agency warns an estimated number of 200,000 persons could be forced to flee to Eastern Chad in the next three months.
Darfur
It was revealed a majority of refugees are from the Darfur region, mostly hit by the violence and instability.
Lo Castro said her team has worked hard to provide protection services, including specialized assistance to survivors of violence and children at risk. They have reportedly built wells and boreholes, installed emergency latrines, provided running mobile clinics amongst others.
She announced they will need more logistics to move refugees from the border as the rainy season approaches.
“ We need to immediately establish new camps and expand existing ones, and continue to provide humanitarian assistance at the border and once refugees have been relocated”, said the release.
Before the April war in Sudan, Chad was hosting some 588,770 refugees, including 409,819 Sudanese fleeing the conflict in Darfur from March 2023. It also had some 127,846 refugees from the Central African Republic, 21,287 Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram violence in the Lake region, 28,311 Cameroonians affected by inter-community tensions and 1,507 refugees from other nations.
The country has an estimated 381,289 internally displaced Chadians, mainly in the Lake Chad province.
The UNHCR is mostly funded by national governments and the EU, with other donations from the public and individuals also contributing.
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