(AGENPARL) – Wed 14 May 2025 Logo ICRC EN.jpg      International Committee of the Red Cross
** Thousands of new Sudanese refugees pour into Eastern Chad daily, humanitarian actors struggle to keep up
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ICRC – AV News 
14 May 2025
N’Djamena (ICRC) — Thousands of Sudanese refugees have arrived in the border town of Tiné in Eastern Chad since fighting escalated in the neighboring Darfur in mid-April. The overwhelming majority of people fleeing armed violence are women and children coming from large Sudanese camps for displaced people called Zamzam and Tawila, where living conditions were already dire.
“On the road we were thirsty, we suffered,” said Ardjoune Oumda Yahya, a Sudanese mother of eight who arrived from Zamzam. An exhausting and dangerous journey has taken the family nearly two weeks.  “This morning, we found a little sugar and we had tea. And since then, we have been sitting in the sun. We haven’t eaten anything yet.”    
Thousands of vulnerable families sleep in the open with little improvised shelter under the scorching sun, as daily temperatures reach above 40°C. Refugees who lost everything urgently need food, water, and shelter, as humanitarian agencies run against the clock to respond to the massive influx. Funding constraints have undermined the task.
“This is the only water point here and, according to the available statistics, there are more than 8,000 people at this site,” said Allaramadji Dounia, a water engineer at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) working at the transit site. “One or two weeks from now, this number could double or triple.”
People arrive deeply traumatized, reporting violence, including sexual violence, and almost every family has lost contact with a loved one left behind or lost on the way. Having no information about the whereabouts of family members adds to severe mental distress.
“Some of the children were left behind, and they haven’t arrived yet. The war separated us. We don’t even know where they are,” said Khadija Adam Youssouf, a Sudanese refugee at the displacement site of Tiné.
The ICRC is working with the Red Cross Society of Chad to respond to the most pressing needs, including water, shelter, psycho-social support, free phone calls, and internet services, enabling separated families to reconnect with their loved ones.
About the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
** For more information, please contact:
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Public Relations Unit | International Committee of the Red Cross | 19, avenue de la Paix | 1202 Geneva | Switzerland
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ICRC, Avenue de la Paix, 19, Geneva, . 1201 Switzerland