Refugee Crisis Deepens In Chad As Conflict In Sudan Rages

ADRE, CHAD - APRIL 25: Children are give a MUAC, (mid-upper arm circumference) test, to screen for signs of malnutrition inside the Médecins Sans Frontières, (MSF) clinic at the refugee transit camp on April 25, 2024 in Adre, Chad. Children, that include Sudanese refugees and locals found to be suffering with malnutrition are put on a six to eight week programme, returning each week for further medical checks. There are currenly around 300 children suffering and in the care oif MSF doctors. Many of the refugees currently in eastern Chad are in great need of food, water and healthcare, with many suffering from malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition. As the rainy season approaches their is a fear that there will also be a surge in people suffering with malaria. Since the beginning of the recent conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the the Sudanese Armed Forces, (SAF), which began in March 2023, over 600,000 new refugees have crossed the border from Darfur in Sudan, into Chad. The total number of refugees, including those from previous conflicts, now stands at 1.2 million. Aid agencies, including The World Food Programme, (WFP), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR), already struggling with acute supply shortages, have warned that the life-saving programmes in Chad, will ‘grind to a halt in a matter of weeks without urgent funding’. Chad is now home to one of the largest and fastest-growing refugee populations in Africa. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)