The influx of almost 200,000 refugees into eastern Chad has stretched humanitarian resources to the limit and there is a need for the donor community to back the scaling up of operations there, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said today, as it announced a significant increase in its emergency appeal for Chad.
As well as continuing to deliver humanitarian supplies in partnership with United Nations agencies as they have done since the start of the crisis, the International Federation and the Chad Red Cross will now be taking responsibility for the establishment and management of a camp for 20,000 refugees at Tréguine, near the existing UNHCR camps at Farchana and Breidjing. Having launched an initial appeal for 2.3 million Swiss francs (US$ 1.8 million in December 2003, the International Federation is now asking for 14.58 million Swiss francs (US$ 11.56 million).
A number of National Red Cross Societies are giving financial and material support to the operation. Three Emergency Response Units (ERUs) with specialised knowledge in logistics, mass sanitation and basic health care will be deployed with staff and equipment supplied by the Austrian, Belgian, Danish, French, German and Swedish Red Cross Societies. Other sister societies are contributing funds, relief supplies or delegates, while Oxfam will be providing safe water at the camp.
“Over the past few months, the humanitarian actors in eastern Chad have been racing against time to get the refugees into camps before the rainy season starts.
This has almost been achieved. In the camps, it is easier to provide them with shelter and ensure that they receive adequate food, clean water and medical care,” says Andreas Koumo Gopina, secretary general of the Chad Red Cross. “This is especially important as the incidence of disease and malnutrition are on the increase.”
He adds that it is not only the refugees who will be receiving help: “The needs of the local population have always been substantial, but their situation has been exacerbated by this massive influx. The welcome they have extended has been exceptional, but their meagre resources have been depleted. We will develop programmes that seek to address their often serious health and nutrition problems.”
The International Federation is concerned that the desperate plight of the refugees in Chad has not been fully grasped by the outside world. “Darfur, where a major humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding, is attracting media attention and donors’ money, and rightly so. But we must not forget that many people forced from their homes in Darfur have ended up in Chad. Their humanitarian needs must not be forgotten,” said Roger Aubé, who is coordinating the Federation operation in Chad.