Families continue to pour into Chad daily, escaping the horrors of war and famine in Sudan, a situation that deeply unsettled the UK’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy. During his visit to the Adré border post on Friday, Lammy witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of Sudan’s civil conflict, which erupted following a fallout between the army and its former ally, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Many of the refugees arriving at the border have been torn from their families amidst the chaos of their escape, leaving them anxious and desperate for news of their loved ones’ safety. Lammy remarked,
“It’s some of the most horrific things I’ve ever heard and seen in my life. Overwhelmingly, what I’ve seen here in Chad, on the border with Sudan, are women and children fleeing for their lives – telling stories of widespread slaughter, mutilation, burning, sexual violence against them, their children. And amongst it all, famine, hunger – such unbelievable plight.”
Conditions at the border and the plight of refugees
During his visit, Lammy observed numerous women adorned in colorful shawls, some carrying children of various ages, as they crossed the border on horse-drawn carts. These families appeared exhausted, their few belongings loaded onto bags, reflecting the long journey they had undertaken in search of safety.
One refugee, Halima Abdalla, expressed her relief at crossing into Chad despite the loss of one of her children during her flight from Darfur, a region that has witnessed some of the most intense violence in the past 21 months, much of which has been attributed to the RSF. Halima shared,
“I first went to el-Geneina, but I had to run again when fighting broke out there,”
explaining how she became separated from her husband and two other children.
Efforts to reunite families and ongoing humanitarian crisis
On the Chadian side of the border, aid workers are engaged in efforts to reunite families who have been separated during their escape. A humanitarian worker described the heartbreaking choices some mothers had to make:
“Some mothers have told us they had to choose which children to run with as they couldn’t carry all of them at one go.”
Abandoned children are being cared for by aid workers, who are actively searching for their families.
Lammy listened intently to the refugees’ harrowing accounts, stating,
“All of these people have stories – very, very desperate stories of fleeing violence, of murder in their families, of rape, of torture, of mutilation.”
He recounted a particularly troubling encounter with a woman who showed him burn marks on her arms, a painful reminder of her suffering at the hands of soldiers.
Expressing his outrage, Lammy criticized the apparent “hierarchy of conflict” that has marginalized Sudan’s crisis, even as it stands as the largest humanitarian emergency in the world today. He highlighted the urgent need for global attention and support.
In response to the escalating crisis, the UK has increased its aid to approximately £200 million ($250 million) and is urging other donor nations to enhance their contributions. However, the announcement of a 90-day freeze on foreign aid by newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has raised alarms among aid agencies, who fear this could significantly impact ongoing humanitarian efforts.
As conditions worsen in Sudan, the UN has noted that over 12 million people have been displaced since fighting erupted in April 2023, with nearly half of the more than 50 million civilians in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. The prevalence of malnutrition remains alarmingly high, as demonstrated by the plight of a six-month-old baby, Rasma Ibrahim, whose health status was assessed at a local clinic.
The refugee population in Adré has surged from 40,000 to over 200,000, highlighting the extraordinary strain on local resources and services. In stark contrast, just across the border in Darfur, famine was declared in August, exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation.
Concluding his visit, Lammy emphasized the need for immediate action, urging the international community to recognize the magnitude of the crisis, asserting,
“We have to step up and wake up now to this huge, huge crisis.”