The Red Cross camp at Tréguine

Tréguine camp opened on Monday 27 September to provide humanitarian assistance to Sudanese refugees from Darfur.

Its facilities are planned for a maximum capacity of 15 000 people in decent living conditions with proper access to basic necessities. Its residents, many of whom have been in Chad for months without receiving any form of aid, are provided with shelter, food, water, sanitation facilities and living equipment.

The following organisations are active in setting up and running Tréguine camp:

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): overall responsibility and site planning
• Chad National Refugee Agency: registration
• The Chad Red Cross Movement/International Federation: camp management, basic health, community health, sanitation
• Oxfam: water
• World Food Programme (WFP): food

1. Reception

On arrival in the camp, the refugees go through a detailed registration process. Their names, age and family situation are entered into a database that will determine the aid they receive during their stay in the camp. They are then given a general health check-up to assess their level of vulnerability and provide them with the necessary medical attention. Red Cross volunteers give them a brief introduction to life in the camp, before taking them by truck to the tent they have been attributed. Families of 4 to 7 members are assigned one tent each. Smaller families receive plastic sheeting to build a shelter, while larger ones get two tents.

2. Residential area and Piccadilly Circus

The heart of the camp is the residential area, which is dotted with thousands of tents, tap stands and latrines. It is subdivided into 38 blocs each containing up to 400 inhabitants.

The refugees have spontaneously grouped themselves into quartiers of 400 to 3000 people, all from the same area in Darfur. Each one has a male and female representative, as well as a poetic name such as Ryad Nissam Shamil (“the North Wind”), Mabruka (“Blessed”) or N’Djamena (“We rested here”).

The blocs are in turn divided into 10 communes of 8 tents around an open space for washing, cooking and other aspects of community life. The Red Cross and partners have tried wherever possible to respect and encourage the refugees’ communal tradition while planning the camp.

At the centre is Piccadilly Circus, the “village square”. The forcha, or traditional leader of the community, and his family will be based here. In addition, space and tents will be provided for meetings and social activities.

3. Mosque

The refugees themselves have set up a mosque in the north-eastern corner of bloc 13. It is served and entirely run by religious leaders from within the community with no interference from humanitarian organisations.

4. School

To occupy the numerous children of the camp, but also to allow them to return to their homes without falling behind in their education, a school system will be introduced. It will be entirely run in Arabic and English by schoolteachers from within the refugee community according to the Sudanese curriculum. The Red Cross will provide space in the camp but also tents and school equipment (notebooks, pens, etc.)

5. Market and odd shops

In other camps, locals bring their wares and products to sell directly to the refugee population. In Tréguine, a different system is being put in place to reflect the important trading centre that is Hadjer Hadid, a village only one kilometre away. Indeed, this bustling market town is the best place in eastern Chad to buy a wide range of grain and other foodstuffs. Nomads from northern Chad and even Libya take their camel caravans down each year to sell their natron and buy millet. Since the arrival of Sudanese refugees in the area, the market has tripled in size, and it is now difficult to find parking space for one’s donkey!

With the support of the local population of Hadjer Hadid, the refugees are encouraged to patronise the local market. Smaller spontaneous markets are expected to spring up within the camp, as well as a number of odd shops from tailors to metal smiths.

6. Football field

A central area has been cleared near Piccadilly Circus for youths to kick a ball around. Red Cross staff play a mixed Oxfam / MSF team here on Sunday afternoons!

7. Recreational area

An area has been set aside near the reception are for children to play or for other recreational activities.

8. Livestock area

Many refugees have managed to save a small amount of cattle, generally cows or goats, in addition to the donkeys used for transport. To avoid problems concerning grazing, but more importantly to prevent animals from defecating within the camp, a lush field has been enclosed for livestock. It can be expanded according to demand.

9. Cemetery

The cemetery has been established on the western edge of the camp above the wadi. Two deaths have occurred so far: a young child died of malaria and an old woman of exhaustion and severe dehydration.

10. Medical centre

The medical centre, established and operated by an Emergency Response Unit (ERU) from the German Red Cross, opened on Thursday 30th September. It is capable of treating up to 200 patients a day, but currently receives half that number. The major ailments which are treated are diarrhoea, malaria, conjunctivitis, and headaches.

11. Administrative centre

All the personnel involved in the running of the camp, Red Cross and partners, are based in the office tents in this area. While running a camp is often a job on the move, it also involves a great deal of administration and work meetings. This is also the place to bring complaints and special concerns to the attention of the different departments.

12. Logistics centre

Large Rubbhalls and smaller tents are gathered in this enclosed space to stock food and non-food aid, as well as all the equipment necessary for running the camp. This includes shovels, wheelbarrows, hoes, buckets, plastic sheeting, etc.

13. Contingency area

This area, too rocky to pitch a tent on, has been set aside to deal with an emergency which may yet arise given the rapid evolution of the refugee situation.

14. Mango patch

Along the northern edge of the camp runs a lush strip of mango trees overlooking the wadi. This represents a considerable source of income for the local villagers, who have expressed concern about the arrival of such a large population just a hundred metres away. Strict rules have been drawn up with community leaders from the local and refugee populations to prevent any problems arising on this issue.

15. Wadi

The large wadi, or seasonal river, envelops the camp from north and west. The wells that allow Oxfam to provide potable drinking water for all the residents of the camp are situated along its southern bank, beyond the mango trees.

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