MSF calls for aid, protection for Sudanese refugees in Chad

NAIROBI, Oct 8 (AFP) — An international charity on Wednesday called for aid and protection for tens of thousands of war-traumatised Sudanese refugees living in Chad who fled conflict in the Darfur region.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the refugees, displaced in recent months by fighting between the Khartoum government and rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), “are living under extreme conditions in close proximity to war.”

Despite a September ceasefire, bombing and burning of villages in western Sudan has continued, according to an MSF statement sent to AFP in Nairobi.

“Currently, the refugees — most women and children — receive little assistance… They are in dire need of assistance and protection from violence, ” the statement said.

“The Sudanese refugees … now find themselves living in extremely harsh, drought-stricken conditions … in a region that has limited and overstretched resources,” it said.

The refugees are scattered along a 600-kilometre (410-mile) stretch of the common border, often with inadequate shelter from the harsh elements.

“The weather conditions are extreme, with temperatures reaching above 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) during the day and dropping to less than 15 degrees at night,” the statement added.

MSF said scarcity of shelter has compelled refugees to construct makeshift structures using old torn rags, bits of plastic sheeting and wooden sticks, which barely offer protection from sun, rain and sandstorms.

Clean drinking water and food and are in short supply, prompting rising malnutrition rates among children.

“Refugees must dig in sandy and empty riverbeds with their bare hands, or with a small cup in search of some water. The reward is a dirty brown liquid.

“The majority of refugees were not able to take with them any food reserves… To date no distribution of food or non food items (blankets, jerry cans, cooking pots hygien kits) has taken place,” MSF said.

The Sudanese refugees are “traumatised by the violence they have been subjected to. Many no longer have the emotional strength to do anything except lie in the sand day and night, letting events unfold around them,” MSF said.