Humanitarian Crisis in Chad Escalates as Sudanese Refugees Overwhelm Overcrowded Camps

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A dire humanitarian situation is unfolding in Chad as hundreds of thousands of people flee Sudan’s ongoing conflict, seeking refuge in overcrowded camps that lack adequate healthcare and living conditions.

One of these refugees is Adam Bakht, an elderly man dealing with multiple health issues, including diabetes, asthma, and allergies. Despite his medical conditions, he has received only minimal treatment, such as a pain-relieving injection. Speaking from a camp near the Sudanese border in Adre, Bakht expressed his urgent need for medical attention, echoing the sentiments of more than 200,000 refugees in the town, all grappling with challenging living conditions.

These refugee camps are under severe strain, facing shortages of medical personnel, sanitation facilities, and essential medicines. In makeshift clinics, dedicated staff work tirelessly to provide care, but resources are scarce.

Despite the difficult circumstances, hundreds of refugees continue to arrive daily, fleeing the ongoing clashes involving the Sudanese army, paramilitary forces, and tribal fighters.

While these refugees may find safety from violence, they encounter other threats, including heavy rains that jeopardize already limited food and water supplies, according to the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The rainy season has led to a sharp rise in malaria cases, and the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera is increasing.

Muzammil Said, a 27-year-old refugee who now volunteers at one of the clinics, described how they receive up to 300 patients daily, with patients forced to lie on beds placed directly on the sandy ground due to space constraints. Medicine supplies are running low, and the cost of providing essential medications remains a significant challenge.

Adam Bakht, like many others, is still waiting for the medication he was promised when he fled the conflict in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. He explained, “My diabetes medication is supposed to arrive in three days, but for my asthma, they told me to buy an inhaler from outside the camp.”

Chad, which was already one of the world’s least-developed countries, faces substantial healthcare challenges, especially in remote areas like Adre. The nation’s healthcare system is strained, characterized by high maternal mortality rates and a significant child mortality rate.

Child mortality has surged within the refugee camps, with dozens of children under the age of five succumbing to malnutrition, according to the United Nations. In Sudan, where over 20 million people are grappling with severe hunger, more than 500 additional children have died from starvation since the war began.

The majority of patients in the camps suffer from illnesses like malaria, eye infections, respiratory diseases, and malnutrition. The lack of access to clean water exacerbates the risk of disease, leading to long queues forming as early as 2:00 am due to water shortages in some camps, as reported by MSF.

International aid organizations, already dealing with security and bureaucratic challenges, have received only a fraction of the promised funding, even four months into the conflict. The situation in Chad, where the need was already overwhelming, continues to deteriorate.

Before the current conflict, Chad was already hosting tens of thousands of refugees from Cameroon in the southwest and the Central African Republic in the south, in addition to the 410,000 Sudanese refugees who had fled the Darfur war since 2003.

The recent surge of violence in Sudan has forced more than 382,000 refugees into Chad, with over 200,000 seeking refuge in Adre alone. UN projections suggest that another 200,000 people could cross the border from Sudan, where the violence shows no signs of abating.

The humanitarian crisis in Chad continues to worsen, with refugees facing dire conditions and limited access to essential services.

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