Over 55,000 Sudanese refugees fled to east Chad this year: UN

• The conflict has claimed more than 200,000 lives
• The crisis is driving severe hunger and mass displacement

Time updated 11 min 32 sec ago.

Date: September 25, 2026 – 16:43

Geneva:

More than 55,000 Sudanese refugees have entered eastern Chad since the beginning of the year, the United Nations reported on Friday, noting that the pace of arrivals is accelerating despite insufficient aid funding.

The war between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in April 2023 has claimed over 200,000 lives, aid workers estimate, and has triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement emergency.

By now, approximately 11.3 million people are forced to leave their homes—6.4 million inside Sudan and 3.5 million who have crossed borders as refugees, according to UN data.

Around 980,000 of these displaced have made their way to Chad, the UN High Commissioner for Refugi­es said Friday, stressing that ongoing fighting and heightened insecurity in parts of Sudan are prompting additional families to seek cross‑border safety.

“More than 55,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to eastern Chad so far this year,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UN regional refugee coordinator. He emphasized, “Over the past week the arrival rate has spiked dramatically.”

Balde, who also leads the UNHCR Eastern and Southern Africa operations, warned that “in the last ten days, the number of people crossing the border zones of Adre and Tine has jumped sharply”—with roughly 20 people per day being replaced by up to 450–500 crossings currently.

The situation is especially acute in the Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where clashes including airstrikes and drone assaults keep displacing civilians and impede humanitarian assistance.

Humanity assistance lags dramatically: the UNHCR has secured only 18 percent of the $1.6 billion earmarked for regional relief tied to the Sudan crisis.

In Chad specifically, more than 190,000 refugees live under challenging border conditions, many receiving less than half the minimum daily water supply. In the Tine transit centre, more than 4,300 individuals are present, demanding urgent shelter, water, sanitation and protection services.

“Those displaced will choose to move—to vote with their feet—for safety, legal status and a better future,” Balde cautioned.

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