Sudan's Refugees: Hope Betrayed in Chad

One of the women who's brought her baby to the malnutrition clinic in Farchana. They're sitting under mosquito nets.

The civil war in Sudan has caused the largest displacement crisis in the world. More than 10 million people have fled their homes. Over 2 million of them have gone to neighboring countries, including 600,000 who have headed to Chad, where more refugees arrive every day. In some places, the Sudanese refugees nearly outnumber locals. Food and water were already scarce in Chad because of the arid climate and recurrent droughts. Resources are strained — and humanitarian aid organizations aren’t able to keep up with the needs of the refugees.

You went to a remote town called Guereda. Tell us what you've seen. Guereda is about 20 miles from the border with Sudan. The only way in is by road, which is unpaved and flooded and muddy. Now, this town is surrounded by massive refugee camps, where about 90,000 Sudanese people are staying. The majority of the adults are women – they told us the men were either killed, missing or not allowed to leave Sudan by armed groups. More than half of the camp population are children. These refugees have harrowing stories of the war in Sudan. Many of their family members have been killed. But right now, they are in dire need of food and water and health care. The children I saw today were very thin. Many told me that they're eating only one meal a day – a bland porridge made of water and flour.

I understand why food can't reach Sudan given the war, but you're in Chad. Why can't food reach those people through humanitarian aid organizations? There are two main issues -- funding and access. World Vision country director Edouard Ngoy told me that 17 months into this crisis they've only received about 20% of the funding they need for their response. Similarly, the United Nations says that of the $1.5 billion needed to support Sudanese refugees, only 25% of that has been met. Then there's the issue of access. Our car got stuck in the mud on our way to the camps yesterday. It took about an hour to get out. It would have been nearly impossible for a heavier truck carrying aid to make it through.

Because of these conditions, aid organizations like the World Food Programme and World Vision and others started giving refugees small amounts of cash so they can buy their own food from locals. But not everyone has received that help, and food prices have gone up quite a bit because of the demand from a growing number of refugees. What does all of this mean for local people who have lived in Chad since before the war started? They're being affected immensely. I sat in on a meeting between community leaders and representatives of the refugee camp. They meet to solve problems together and avoid conflict. Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world, with high food insecurity. Many people here are farmers, and they say that refugees are now living in huge chunks of farmland. Farmers are now looking for new land where they can plant and cultivate crops. And other resources like firewood, which is critical for cooking, and water are also running out.