Chad — Sudan crisis response: Flash update 31 (15 March 2024)

• Nearly 700,000 people have crossed into Chad since the onset of the crisis in Sudan. IOM estimates that more than 164,422 among them are Chadian returnees and expects this number to rise to 204,000 by the end of August 2024, due to ongoing conflict in Darfur and the current suspension of the humanitarian corridor between Adré and Darfur.

• IOM, as the lead agency for the returnee response, collaborates with a range of operational partners including the Government of Chad, UNHCR, OCHA, LWF, PUI, UNICEF, MSF, UNFPA, LMI, ICRC, IRC, ACTED, the Chadian Red Cross, HELP-Tchad, ATURAD, Concern Worldwide, COOPI, INTERSOS, and WFP.

• In coordination with CNARR and humanitarian organizations, IOM has registered 101,347 returnees and identified 365 third-country nationals (from South Sudan, Niger, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Uganda) in 38 localities in three provinces.

• Most of the returnees currently live in spontaneous locations near the border and are in urgent need of food, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, household items, health, and protection.

• IOM is relocating returnees from Adre to the newly developed returnee community of Tongori, Ouaddaï province, where it offers them shelters, WASH, NFI, and Protection/MHPSS assistance. Over 13,000 individuals have so far been relocated. IOM is also developing the site of Deguessa, Sila province, with shelter, WASH, and Protection/MHPSS assistance for the benefit of over 25,000 returnees.

• IOM is coordinating with local authorities and diplomatic representations for the voluntary return to their home countries of third-country nationals (TCNs) from countries including Ethiopia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon previously living in Sudan and displaced to eastern Chad.