Chad struggles to cope as over 47,000 refugees arrive amid Sudan conflict
With the conflict in Sudan worsening, the number of refugees is expected to rise, according to UNICEF.
In the last 30 days, approximately 47,110 refugees fleeing violence in Sudan have arrived in Chad’s Wadi Fira and Ennedi Est provinces.
The majority are entering through Tiné and Birak in Wadi Fira, and Ouré Cassoni in Ennedi Est, following attacks on the internally displaced persons camps in Zamzam and Abou Shouk in April 2025.
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With the conflict in Sudan worsening, the number of refugees is expected to rise, according to UNICEF.
The host communities in Chad face serious challenges due to limited access to basic services such as health care, protection, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene.
This sudden influx “jeopardises fragile social cohesion and increases the risk of conflict between the two communities.”
Refugees, returnees, and the local population, including children, are exposed to health risks like dengue fever, diphtheria, hepatitis E, and measles.
The latest UNICEF report confirmed “a confirmed case was reported in the town of Iriba, in Wadi Fira province” as part of the diphtheria epidemic in Chad.
Due to the lack of inpatient therapeutic nutrition units in Tiné, “the most severe acute malnutrition (SAM) cases with complications among refugees, returnees, as well as children from the host population, are referred to the IPT treatment unit at the Iriba district hospital.”
UNICEF says over 700 unaccompanied or separated children have been identified, yet access to mental health and psychosocial services remains insufficient.
Since the conflict began in Sudan on April 15, 2023, the Chadian government, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and the International Organisation for Migration have registered “818,015 Sudanese refugees and 216,337 Chadian returnees from Sudan,” with children under 18 accounting for 61 per cent of refugees and 68 per cent of returnees.
Between May 9 and 11, 2025, a joint mission by the government and humanitarian partners found a “major humanitarian crisis, with huge unmet humanitarian needs despite initial responses” in Wadi Fira province.
The 2025 Sudanese Regional Refugee Response Plan requires a total of $701.3 million (Sh90.9 billion) for Chad.
UNICEF’s funding needs are $48.3 million (Sh6.3 billion), with an “85 per cent” funding gap as of April 2025. UNICEF urgently requires “$41.3 million (Sh5.3 billion) to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Eastern Chad.”
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