Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 30th May. UN Refugee Agency on Wednesday called on partners to assist and support 185,000 Sudanese refugees living in Chad who are trying to escape dangerous borders, specifically in Adre border town, the agency stated in a press release issued in New York.
Laura Lo Castro, UNHCR Representative in Chad, said that rains began in Adre, left thousands of Sudanese refugees without shelter suitable for protection.
The rains also impede humanitarian access due to catastrophic flooding, she added.
She said “It’s paramount that we scale up the response now and immediately relocate as many refugees as possible to safer areas away from the border and assist those we will not be able to move,”.
UNHCR and partners are working to cpmplete a settlement for refugees offering protection and assistance.
They need $17 million to move and accommodate 50,000 refugees there.
UNHCR has reported that ongoing conflict in Sudan has forced about 600,000 civilians to relocate to Chad since April 2023.
People settled in “overcrowded, spontaneous sites along the border, where they sleep in makeshift shelters”, according to the agency.
The new arrivals, women and children, arrive in poor health oftentimes with just the clothes they are wearing, traumatised and suffering from physical or gender-based violence.
UNHCR said these people need “essential protection services and life-saving assistance, including mental health and psychosocial support, shelter, food, water, sanitation, and health services.”
UNHCR and partners are constructing 5 new refugee settlements and extending 10 that are hosting over 336,000 Sudanese refugees.
The refugee agency is coordinating emergency responses for forcibly displaced civilians in support to the Government.
Additionally, the agency and partners, under the Government’s leadership, have been working with little resources to address the needs of the Sudanese people and prevent a bigger humanitarian situation.
They said they have reallocated stocks and funds to “scale down interventions with the consequence of lowering standards across all settlements.”
The agency noted that need $630.2 million to respond to the needs of the Sudanese civilians who have crossed the border; only 6% has been secured.
“Families who have crossed the border into Chad have lost everything,” Ms. Castro said.
She added “They rely on relief assistance to cover their most basic needs. We call on the generosity of our donors to urgently cover the most critical gaps to protect and save lives.”
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