Aid groups call for more support for Sudanese refugees living in Chad

Some 700,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to neighbouring Chad, as a result of the conflict between the Sudanese army and paramilitary rapid support forces. Though they want to return home, they're not sure when they will be able to.

“In Sudan, there is a problem. There is no security, there is no stability. We came here as refugees in Chad and we (want to) return to our country, check our homes, and remain there. That’s our problem. Without security it’s difficult. We have children, we have a family and because (security) is not guaranteed we will stay here until we return to our county, God willing,” says Ousmane Taher, a Sudanese refugee.

Aid groups are worried that there are not enough resources to support those seeking refuge in Chad, and are calling for more funding.

“What I worry (about) the most will be lack of funding. If we don’t have enough funding and have an increased inflow of Sudanese population here in Chad, adding a strain to this situation here in Chad as well itself, that can lead to hunger,” says Ramazani Karabaye, head of the World Food Program's operations in the Adre.

Fleur Pialoux, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, fears the situation will not imporove any time soon.

"We know here the population is almost solely reliant on food aid and this is not something that is really sustainable. As the conflict is not improving on the other side and actually even worsening as we speak, we foresee that sadly people will remain here for quite a while,” she says.

At a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in a displacement site in Chad, several children have died this year from malnutrition.