Water supply secured for 40,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad

Last Thursday, new water tanks were installed in Gaga camp, eastern Chad, which hosts approximately 40,000 Sudanese refugees. In Iridimi camp, Sudanese refugees demonstrated in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office to demand suitable access to aid. A Masalit refugee was shot dead in Maji camp.

The tanks, which are directly supplied by ground wells and linked to water faucets in the camp, will provide stable water supply for 10,000 new refugees who arrived last July, on top of 30,000 people who were already living in Gaga camp, a Radio Dabanga correspondent in the camp said.

“Before the new water tanks were installed, refugees had to rely on water tankers transporting water to the camp in the morning and evening.

“But, the trucks frequently broke down, and the amount of water was insufficient. People often resorted to collecting rainwater from tent roofs”, the correspondent added.

Malnutrition

Yesterday, in Iridimi camp, eastern Chad, Sudanese refugees organised a protest in front of the UNHCR office in the camp.

The protestor “demanded an urgent intervention to provide life-saving aid to the camp, as disease and malnutrition are rapidly spreading”, a Sudanese refugee told Radio Dabanga.

“The organisations working in the camp do not care about us, nor do they provide us with sufficient aid and services”, the protestor lamented.

As reported by Radio Dabanga, at least five Sudanese refugee children died of starvation last week in Irdimi camp.

In November of last year, Sudanese refugees living in Irdimi camp demonstrated against the deteriorating security situation in the area, and expressed a “dire need of shelters”.

Insecurity

Today, the Darfur Network for Human Rights (DNHR) said that a 31-year old Sudanese Masalit refugee was shot dead in Maji camp in eastern Chad on January 15.

DNHR said it received reports suggesting his death “was a result of financial disputes with a member of the Zaghawa tribe, a dominant ethnic group in north-eastern Chad”. 

“Despite the presence of joint Chadian-Sudanese security forces, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to infiltrate these settlements with alarming ease, posing a constant threat to the lives of the refugees“, the network said.

This is not the first instance of violence targeting Sudanese refugees in Chad. A Darfur resident of the Gaga refugee camp was shot dead at the end of September last year.

Last October, a report by the Darfur Women’s Forum showed that Darfuri women in eastern Chad were unable to leave the camps to relieve themselves for risk of rape and other serious attacks.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Sudan weekly snapshot covering January 11 to 18, about 634,000 Darfuris crossed the border to eastern Chad since the outbreak of the war in mid-April, making Chad the country hosting the highest number of Sudanese refugees.