The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, sounded the alarm Tuesday over a sharp rise in Sudanese refugees fleeing into eastern Chad, with nearly 20,000 people -- mostly "exhausted and traumatized women and children" -- arriving in the past two weeks alone.
Magatte Guisse, UNHCR's representative in Chad, told a UN briefing in Geneva that the largest influx has been at the Tine border crossing in Wadi Fira Province, where almost 6,000 people arrived within just two days.
"Since April 21, over 14,000 individuals have been counted in Wadi Fira," she noted, highlighting the "escalating violence in Sudan's North Darfur region," particularly around El Fasher.
Refugees report harrowing accounts of violence, including killings, sexual assaults, and homes being torched, she said, adding that many also endured robbery and extortion while escaping.
"Most arrived in Chad with nothing, no food, money, or identification," Guisse said.
According to the UNHCR's rapid protection assessment, 76% of the newly arrived had suffered serious protection incidents.
At the same time, protection teams at the border have identified increasing numbers of people with specific needs -- including 752 at-risk children, 22 of whom were injured in the conflict, as well as unaccompanied children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and elderly survivors, she said.
Local communities and authorities are struggling to cope as Chad already hosts 1.3 million refugees, including 794,000 Sudanese arrivals since the conflict erupted more than two years ago.
"While the country continues to show remarkable solidarity in hosting refugees, it cannot bear this burden alone," Guisse stressed.
Since late April, UNHCR has relocated almost 1,850 refugees to safer sites and is providing life-saving aid, the representative said, amid funding shortfalls that loom large.
"Of the $409 million required to respond to the refugee crisis in Chad in 2025, only 20% has been funded," Guisse warned, urging the international community to step up.
