Chad Humanitarian Update June 2023

Humanitarian needs on the rise as the number of people fleeing Sudan into Chad increases

The number of people fleeing violence in Sudan to Chad since fighting broke out between rival military factions in Khartoum on 15 April is now over 230,000, including 192 473 refugees, around 43,000 Chadian returnees and 68 third country nationals, as of 4 July. They have sought refuge in Ouaddaï, Sila and Wadi Fira provinces, in eastern Chad.

Following the escalation of conflict in El Geneina and other locations in West Darfur in mid-June, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had recorded, as of 30 June, 36,563 people who were forced to flee to Adré, a town located 400 metres from the Sudanese border in the Ouaddaï province of Chad. Most of the people were women and children who sought refuge in villages, schools, and makeshift shelters. Some 800 injured people, many with gunshot or stab wounds, including several children and infants, were admitted to Adré hospital, supported by Médecins sans Frontières, between 14 and 17 June, and at least 20 deaths were recorded.

Faced with this humanitarian situation, Chad's transitional President visited Abéché and Adré on 17 and 18 June respectively and appealed to the international community for increased support. The Chadian Prime Minister made the same appeal on 24 June at a meeting with diplomatic and consular missions and technical and financial partners based in N’Djamena. During this meeting, he called for an international conference to mobilise funds and help Chad meet the many challenges of managing refugees, particularly as the start of the rainy season.

Humanitarian actors are working with the Chadian government to step up the response to the urgent humanitarian needs of people arriving in Chad due to the violence in Sudan.

UNHCR, in close cooperation with the Commission nationale d'accueil de réinsertion des réfugiés et des rapatriés (CNARR), has relocated, as of 4 July, 53,889 people to extensions of seven existing refugee camps and to two newly established camps in eastern Chad, with the support of the French army, which provided 19 trucks for the operation since 24 June. The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Chad had approved the use of French military support according to civil-military coordination procedures as a last resort given the limited availability of civilian trucks.

As part of the humanitarian response, UNHCR and its implementing partners, as well as other humanitarian organisations continue to provide non-food items and hot meals to refugee households, expanding existing refugee camps and constructing three new camps and a transit centre. The World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed food to over 105,000 refugees, returnees, and vulnerable host community members, including 15,659 pregnant and lactating women and children under five with nutritious products to prevent malnutrition. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is supporting the joint registration of new arrivals, including Chadian returnees, and has provided emergency humanitarian assistance to more than 22,500 Chadian returnees through direct cash assistance and emergency tarpaulins. Other humanitarian partners are providing health, water, hygiene and sanitation, and protection services.

A high-level pledging event to support the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19 June, resulting in pledges of $1.5 billion. UNHCR has updated its Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) which for Chad identifies financial needs of $226 million for all humanitarian actors involved in the response in the east to reach 310,000 people in the next six months. However, according to UNHCR, only 10% of this funding has been received to date.

On 23 June Chad was allocated a further $6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) rapid response window to provide protection services and life-saving assistance to host communities who are also severely affected by the current crisis. Staple food prices in the eastern provinces have more than doubled since the crisis began. Before the latest influx, the country was already home to 407,000 Sudanese refugees in the eastern region. This $6 million allocation for host communities comes in addition to a previous CERF allocation of $8 million to support the response for refugees and returnees. In total, CERF has allocated $14 million to Chad for this crisis.

Given the changing humanitarian context and the additional needs caused by the crisis in Sudan, the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is being revised to reflect the current crisis. The current 2023 HRP, which requires $674 million to meet the needs of 4.4 million people, has so far been funded at $116 million, or 17% of financial requirements.