{"id":20112905,"date":"2025-01-30T08:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T07:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20112905"},"modified":"2025-01-30T10:43:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T09:43:28","slug":"the-worlds-largest-humanitarian-crisis-doesnt-stop-at-sudans-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/the-worlds-largest-humanitarian-crisis-doesnt-stop-at-sudans-borders","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The world\u2019s largest humanitarian crisis doesn\u2019t stop at Sudan\u2019s borders\u2026\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world\u2019s largest humanitarian crisis doesn\u2019t stop at Sudan\u2019s borders. Despite acute challenges of its own, Chad has welcomed almost a million Darfuri and Sudanese refugees and guaranteed their right to asylum. However, as the world humanitarian relief infrastructure reels in the wake of Friday\u2019s announcement by the US State Department of an immediate halt on all existing US foreign assistance and a paused to new aid, a group of 23 humanitarian organisations operating in eastern Chad have appealed to the international community to \u201cmatch such a level of compassion and solidarity by urgently ramping up its efforts to properly and adequately assist those who have survived.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US State Department issued a \u201cstop-work\u201d order<\/a> on Friday for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid, after President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a 90-day pause<\/a> in foreign assistance pending reassessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Nine out of ten people forced into displacement are women and children and many have endured terrible acts of violence, including torture, rape, and sexual slavery\u2026\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the nearly two years since war broke out in Sudan, almost one million people have fled into neighbouring Chad<\/a>, including more than 720,000 Sudanese refugees and more than 220,000 Chadians who returned home because of the conflict. Nine out of ten people forced into displacement are women and children and many have endured terrible acts of violence, including torture, rape, and sexual slavery. In their joint appeal, 23 international humanitarian organisations* operating in eastern Chad warn that the majority of those refugees and returnees do not have access to the protection and education assistance they direly need.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hamat, 26, with her child in Metche camp, Ouaddai, eastern Chad (File photo: Karl Schembri\/NRC)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we\u202ffinally\u202farrived in Chad,\u202fI was very happy and\u202frelieved. For a second,\u202fI forgot the fear,\u201d says Nima, a refugee who walked for five days before reaching the border with her three daughters and husband, who had been injured by gunshot in an attack in El Fasher in Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Mummy, they are coming to kill us! We have to run!\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nima says fear quickly resurfaced:\u202f\u201dMy\u202fsix-year-old has nightmares every night. She yells \u2018Mummy, they are coming to kill us! We have to run!\u2019 I try to calm them down, but it\u2019s not easy to make them feel safe when I do not feel safe. I too wake up in the middle of the night, my heart beating so fast because I am afraid all the time. I need peace of mind. I do not feel\u202fat\u202fhome here in this camp as long as I am scared.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than two-thirds of those arriving in Chad have endured some form of violence during their ordeal, and a third were victims of physical assault, according to protection monitoring data collected in October 2024. That same month, a UN fact-finding mission<\/a> documented large-scale sexual violence committed by armed actors in Sudan amongst other human rights violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Most refugees cross the border with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and an abundance of harrowing stories\u2026\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost refugees cross the border with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and an abundance of harrowing stories,\u201d says Alix Camus, President of the INGO Forum, and country director of Acted, which supports the management of the transit site in Adr\u00e9, near the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany have to cope with a great deal of trauma which can, and should, be addressed with a bigger focus on child protection, education, mental health as well as treatment and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. Yet, faced with an emergency crisis of this magnitude on the one hand, and scraps of funding on the other, that type of assistance is placed on the backburner. It should be considered vital seeing what people have gone through,\u201d adds Camus.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Sudanese woman with her children in Metche camp, Ouaddai, Eastern Chad (File photo: Karl Schembri\/NRC)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Chad hosted around a third of newly displaced Sudanese refugees in 2024, bringing the world\u2019s largest displacement crisis to one of the world\u2019s poorest countries. Since April 2023, humanitarian organisations in Chad, including many local and national responders, have rushed to scale up the response with scant resources and deliver lifesaving aid such as food, water and shelter for Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 30 per cent of the Refugee Response Plan in Chad was funded in 2024, and even food assistance fell drastically short of covering their daily needs. Meanwhile, the protection and education sectors featured the largest gaps of the emergency response.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Metche camp, Ouaddai, eastern Chad
(File photo: Karl Schembri\/NRC)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In some provinces in eastern Chad, more than 8 out of 10 children \u2013 refugees, returnees and children from host communities combined – did not attend school in 2024. An assessment carried out by the UNHCR in Wadi Fira in November 2024, with the support of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), revealed a dramatic lack of school infrastructure for both host and displaced populations and a severe shortage of teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We saw great demand from parents and a real motivation on the part of the children to join the temporary schools built in the displacement camps\u2026\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe saw great demand from parents and a real motivation on the part of the children to join the temporary schools built in the displacement camps. Going back to school is \u2018make-or-break\u2019 for the children\u2019s present and their future. Despite forced displacement, the horrors experienced and the lingering trauma, education is the most powerful way to reintroduce a reassuring routine in their lives and rebuild hope,\u201d says Mastam Degolmal, NRC\u2019s Education Coordinator in Adr\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A market at Metche camp, Ouaddai, eastern Chad (File photo: Karl Schembri\/NRC)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Signatory organisations urge for robust regional funding mechanisms to be put in place in order not to leave Sudan\u2019s neighbouring countries to scramble for crumbs as they respond to the fallout of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world\u2019s largest humanitarian crisis doesn\u2019t stop at Sudan\u2019s borders,\u201d says Amadou Bocoum, Country Director of CARE in Chad. \u201cDespite acute challenges of its own, Chad has welcomed refugees and guaranteed their right to asylum, which is remarkable. The international community must match such a level of compassion and solidarity by urgently ramping up its efforts to properly and adequately assist those who have survived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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* Signatory organisations:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action contre la Faim (ACF)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CARE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concern Worldwide (CWW)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danish Refugee Council (DRC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enfants du Monde<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanit\u00e9 & Inclusion (HI)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INSO<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Medical Corps (IMC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Rescue Committee (IRC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTERSOS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OXFAM<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan International<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Premi\u00e8re Urgence Internationale (PUI)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qatar Charity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relief International<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secours Islamique France (SIF)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solidarit\u00e9s International<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tearfund<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Triangle G\u00e9n\u00e9ration Humanitaire (TGH)<\/p>\n