2023-05-01 11:06:34
AFP
In Koufroun, Chad, 20,000 Sudanese refugees in great danger
On donkeys, on horseback, on carts or on foot, hundreds or even thousands of Sudanese, the vast majority of whom are women and children, cross the small dry watercourse that marks the border every day to take refuge in Chad. At the beginning of May, at least 20,000 of them have found refuge in a makeshift camp in the Chadian village of Koufroun, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which somehow manages their support with other UN agencies and NGOs. A few hundred meters to the east is West Darfur, one of the Sudanese provinces most affected – along with the capital Khartoum – by the war without thank you that the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of his ex-number two, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo have been engaged since April 15. – Empty hands – Most of the refugees fled the small Sudanese town of Tendelti, regarding twenty kilometers from Koufroun, in the grip of intense fighting. They often arrive empty-handed, a sign of the haste of their exodus from West Darfur where the UN has counted a hundred people killed over the past week. But where many more have undoubtedly perished, for lack of reliable information. Others painfully carry some goods, some food, while progressing under an overwhelming heat in this Sahelian zone to find a shelter in particular in the shade of large but rare acacias , under which their predecessors and aid workers have erected makeshift shelters, according to AFP journalists on the spot. Scattered in small groups over an area of two square kilometers, some use women’s loincloths and veils to avoid being bitten of the sun. “We are using an emergency stock to relieve these refugees who are coming in massive numbers, in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the world in terms of water and health centers”.Mahamat Hassan Hamad has built a makeshift room under a tree with straw walls, a tarpaulin attached to the branches as the only roof. For his wife, his 11 children and himself. This 52-year-old tailor arrived in Koufroun two weeks ago following fleeing Tendelti. His eyes wet with tears he can barely hold back, he recounts in a quavering voice: “The FSR attacked early in the morning, they burned our houses and destroyed everything in their path, I took my children to cross the border”. “Today, I have nothing left to feed my children, no activity, my sewing machines were taken by the assailants”, he laments. “We had nothing UNHCR, we live thanks to the solidarity of the population”, loose Mahamat. – Flee – “They attacked our village and when some of us wanted to leave their house, they killed them, three or four of them. them,” also recalls Bousseyna Mohamed Arabi, 37, another refugee in Koufroun. According to all the refugees interviewed by AFP, the attacks were carried out by the RSF. Draped in a black hijab, Hinit Issack Abakar, 17 years old, staring into space. “I just had time to take my diploma, which allows me to go to university, to flee with my little brother and my little sister”, slips the young girl. “I don’t know where my mother and father are,” she said, crying. “I was at the market or I was selling coffee when the events broke out,” also explains Achaï Idriss, a woman in her thirties. “I just had time to pick up my things and flee to the border like the others,” she says. “Thank God I have resumed my activities, I prepare coffee to sell it and that allows me to meet my little needs on this site”, she explains. east of N’Djamena. Unicef distributes emergency kits with kitchen utensils, blankets and mats in particular. underprivileged in the world with regard to water and health centres”, explains to AFP Donaig Le Du, head of communication for Unicef in Chad. The NGO Première urgence internationale has installed a makeshift medical antenna in Koufroun. Three health workers work there daily and try to offer consultations, first to all women, children and the elderly. That is 100 to 200 people a day, estimates Ndoumbaye Thertus, head of the NGO on site. “The main pathologies are respiratory diseases, gastroenteritis and malnutrition,” he explains. The humanitarian situation might quickly become catastrophic in Koufroun, fear these humanitarians. “If we do not act now, it will be too late. The rainy season arrives in a few weeks (…), the road will be blocked and all the refugees here will be stuck. We absolutely must provide aid in terms of water, health and shelter as quickly as possible, as well as food,” said Koufroun Brice Degla, UNHCR’s emergency coordinator in Chad. “Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we already had half a million Sudanese refugees in Chad” before this new conflict, worries Jean Paul Habamungu, head of UNHCR operations in the east of the country. And thousands of other refugees may still arrive in Koufroun or elsewhere. More than 1,300 kilometers of extremely porous border separate the two countries.yas-gir/sba
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