UNHCR seeks funding to help Sudanese refugees in Chad

GENEVA, Oct 03, 2003 (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency on Friday launched an appeal for US$16.6 million to help more than 65,000 Sudanese refugees living in eastern Chad.

The people are living in “desperate conditions,” said Millicent Mutuli, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The refugees started arriving en masse in Chad in August, fleeing fighting between government forces and rebels in the Darfur region of western Sudan, UNHCR says. People are continuing to cross the border despite a cease-fire signed on Sept. 4.

Mutuli said the remoteness of the region means that costs of transporting aid to the refugees will be very high. The agency also expects to have to spend up to US$1 million drilling wells up to 100 meters (328 feet) deep.

She said the refugees are spread across more than a dozen sites along Chad’s border with Sudan. A first consignment of aid arrived in the area last week.

UNHCR closed its offices in the Chadian capital, N’djamena, in 2001 because of funding problems but now plans to reopen them, Mutuli said. The agency also plans to open offices in eastern Chad and in the south of the country, which hosts 41,000 refugees from Central African Republic.

Mutuli said the US$16.6 million should cover the cost of the aid operation until the end of 2004, but UNHCR urgently needs US$6.2 million to provide aid to the refugees between now and the end of this year.