The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Chad has said that it is scaling up its response on the Chad-Sudan border to support the surge of people fleeing Sudan.
Development Dairies reports that WFP, in a statement, said it has mobilised all operations and aid to the border to provide support for new arrivals as fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) rages on.
More than 230,000 refugees and 38,000 returnees have crossed into Chad from Sudan since the conflict started in April 2023.
It is understood that many of the people arriving in Chad from Darfur are seriously wounded amid reports that fleeing civilians are being deliberately targeted with an increasingly ethnic dimension to the violence.
‘People are running across the border, wounded, scared, with only their children in their hands and the clothes on their backs’, said WFP’s Country Director in Chad, Pierre Honnorat.
‘They need safety, security, and humanitarian assistance. WFP has mobilized everything we have to the border to support these new arrivals’.
Also, high rates of malnutrition among children crossing from Darfur into Chad have been reported. Estimates suggest over ten percent of children are malnourished.
Admissions of malnourished children to health centres in Adré are quickly increasing, putting significant pressure on the limited facilities.
Development Diaries calls on the African Union (AU) to ramp up efforts in finding lasting solutions to the conflict in Sudan.
We also urge the AU to work with aid organisations and bordering nations to ensure swift support for civilians fleeing the conflict.
Source: WFP
Photo source: WFP
