Since war broke out in Sudan's Darfur region in March 2003, some 197,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad. They are heavily reliant on aid agencies for food, shelter, healthcare and education.
Eastern Chad is a very inhospitable environment. After two consecutive poor rain seasons, cattle stocks are decimated and grazing lands are overused. Refugees are forced into the scorching daytime heat and frequent sandstorms to search for vegetation and firewood, scarce commodities in the region.
The crisis has transformed small villages and settlements into large refugee camps hosting between 10,000 and 15,000 refugees each. The host community, struggling to secure enough food for itself, must now share everything it has with the refugees.
Since war broke out in Sudan's Darfur region in March 2003, some 197,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad. They are heavily reliant on aid agencies for food, shelter, healthcare and education.
Eastern Chad is a very inhospitable environment. After two consecutive poor rain seasons, cattle stocks are decimated and grazing lands are overused. Refugees are forced into the scorching daytime heat and frequent sandstorms to search for vegetation and firewood, scarce commodities in the region.
The crisis has transformed small villages and settlements into large refugee camps hosting between 10,000 and 15,000 refugees each. The host community, struggling to secure enough food for itself, must now share everything it has with the refugees.
Hope
Despite these conditions, the indications are that the aid community has averted a major catastrophe. A report released by the UN concluded that the nutritional health of the Sudanese refugees has stabilised and malnutrition among refugee children has declined. The report also noted, however, that malnutrition in the local population has increased dramatically.
IR Ramadhan Aid
Islamic Relief's aid effort has so far been focussed on the 1 million displaced inside Sudan, but in Ramadhan, IR began a Food Security Project for the refugees in eastern Chad.
IR staff visited the Iriba, Touloum, Amna Bak, Mile and Kounoungo refugee camps and delivered €60,000 worth of aid, benefiting about 80,000 people, with each family receiving a 2 kg bag of dates.
This project was carried out in partnership with the UNHCR who are coordinating the relief effort in Chad.