Chad: Sudanese refugees safe from bombs, but struggling to survive
Humanitarian assistance is critically needed for newly arriving families in eastern Chad’s Tine and Oure cassoni camps
The road from El Fasher, capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, to eastern Chad can take up to 10 days to travel, and is fraught with violence and hardship for the people who take it in search of safety.
An estimated 80,000 people have made this journey from North Darfur since the end of April, yet the humanitarian response remains grossly insufficient. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is increasing support for recently arrived refugees in Tine and Oure cassoni camps, but greater support from additional organizations is critically needed.
MSF teams in both camps are hearing harrowing stories of violence suffered in North Darfur and on the journey to eastern Chad. The newly arrived refugees, a majority of whom are women and children,fled El Fasher and its surrounding camps after intense attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Many people have been hurt or seen men and boys beaten, injured or killed, and women and girls raped. Some people reportedly died of thirst on the way. While they are safe from bombs in Tine and Oure Cassoni camps, they are now enduring harsh living conditions, with severe overcrowding and have only limited access to food, water, shelter and essential medical care.
Care after surgery
Eleven-year-old Mahanat lost his left hand on April 11, when the RSF launched a massive ground offensive on Zamzam camp – which housed 500,000 people – located near El Fasher. According to the UN, hundreds of people were killed in April alone and the camp has been completely emptied. Mahanat escaped the deadly attacks and is now in Tine camp with his mother.
“Mahanat’s father was killed during the attack on Zamzam camp. His left hand got ripped off by a shrapnel bomb, some got stuck in his right eye,” says Mahanat’s mother. “He arrived at the MSF clinic in Tine camp several weeks ago. Each time, doctors and nurses struggled to even access the wound as the child was traumatized and in immense pain. Over the days, with time, patience and trust, Mahanat accepted care.”
Our teams have been treating people’s physical wounds from gunshots, shrapnel bombs and landmines. We are helping patients with amputations through pain management and infection prevention and control measures, such as applying sterile bandages to keep wounds clean and dry. In Tine, we have recently added a mental health component to our work to better support patient recovery.
Meeting people’s growing needs
While we scaled up our activities in Tine camp in April, the overall situation remains largely unchanged due to people’s overwhelming needs. MSF continues to do our utmost, but a coordinated and strengthened response from other humanitarian organizations is essential to meet critical demands.
“Again, we ask donors, the UN and humanitarian organizations to start providing or scale-up support in terms of food, shelter, sanitation and medical care, including mental health services. The current response is grossly insufficient,” says Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator for Sudan.
MSF is working to expand the availability of essential health care services in Tine and Oure Cassoni camps.
At the Tine health post, we have carried out over 7,700 consultations since April. We are concerned about the rate of malnutrition among children under five in the camp, which is as high as 18 per cent, including three per cent who are severely malnourished. We have also vaccinated 5,755 children to help curb the spread of measles in the camp.
“The upcoming rainy season is likely to worsen the already poor living conditions, spread disease, exacerbate food insecurity and the lack of sanitation. We are deeply alarmed by the difficult conditions in Tine and Oure Cassoni camps.”
Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator for Sudan
MSF teams provide care for pregnant women and survivors of sexual violence at the health post and our staff can refer critical patients to local hospitals. From April to June 25, 1,322 consultations on sexual and reproductive health have been carried out. Over the last four weeks, 16 survivors of sexual violence were seen at the health post.
In addition to medical activities, we have built 40 emergency latrines. MSF is the only organization in the camp providing people with water, which remains a huge need. While we were providing the minimum requirement per person per day, the sudden increase in the number of refugees means the needs have increased.
In Oure Cassoni camp, we carried out a rapid evaluation of the situation to understand people’s needs and prepare for an appropriate response. For the time being, we are supplying water through water trucking while exploring more sustainable interventions. The camp was already sheltering 56,000 people before an additional 40,000 refugees arrived last April. These new arrivals have set up with what they have, but they are living in makeshift shelters and without latrines and other basic infrastructure. While a humanitarian response is underway for the newly arrived refugees, our teams are aware of the many unmet needs and of the many more people expected to arrive from North Darfur.
“The number of people arriving at the Tine border point is not expected to decrease over the coming weeks,” says San Filippo. “The upcoming rainy season is likely to worsen the already poor living conditions, spread disease, exacerbate food insecurity and the lack of sanitation. We are deeply alarmed by the difficult conditions in Tine and Oure Cassoni camps. Large-scale humanitarian action is urgently needed to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.”
