Sudan25 September, 20262 min read
UNHCR Warns More Than 55,000 Sudanese Refugees Flee To Chad As Funding Falls Short
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More than 55,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to eastern Chad this year. More than 400 people cross daily into eastern Chad over the past week.
6 outlets told this the same way.
Refugee surge to Chad
UNHCR warned that more than 55,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to neighbouring Chad this year, with the humanitarian crisis set to deteriorate unless funding rises significantly. The number of Sudanese people arriving in eastern Chad has “accelerated sharply” over the past week and is outpacing available support.
The number of refugees entering via Chad’s border areas of Adre and Tine has risen to 400 people a day, about 20 times the daily rate of previous months. Sudan has been engulfed in a civil war since April 2023, when a power struggle between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, turned violent.
Aid shortfalls deepen
More than 400 people crossed daily from Sudan into eastern Chad during the past week, an increase of about 20 percent compared with numbers recorded in the previous months. Only 18 percent of the funding it needs this year, totaling $1.6 billion, has been received.
“That means hunger, less capacity to move people to safer areas, and less ability to shelter themselves.” UNHCR said its analysis shows many Sudanese refugees are heading toward Europe after repeated failed attempts to find safe asylum.
Pressure on transit centers
The transit centre in Chad’s Tine is under severe pressure and currently hosts more than 4,300 people, many of whom are in urgent need of shelter, water, sanitation and protection services. About 31,000 families lack adequate shelter, and most refugees are living on less than half of the minimum amount of water needed daily.
Only 20 percent of the $1.6bn needed to fund response efforts has so far been received, and the dire situation will deteriorate further unless the international community helps plug the funding shortfall of $1.28bn. Without additional help, more Sudanese refugees will make the perilous journey to Europe, and more than 14,100 Sudanese refugees arrived on the continent last year, a 245 percent increase compared with 2024.