Since the last attack on El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur State at the end of October, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that tens of thousands of refugees and returnees have crossed into neighboring Chad. The Saharan nation is currently hosting approximately 903,000 Sudanese refugees who escaped the conflict that began in Sudan in April 2023.
As of December, Chad is hosting nearly 1.5 million refugees, making it one of the largest host countries for refugees worldwide. Additionally, approximately 225,000 Chadians have been internally displaced and require humanitarian assistance.
Despite persistent insecurity, severe movement restrictions, and significant protection risks along the main routes out of Sudan, which continue to hinder safe passage, the influx of people continues, including more than 344,000 Chadian returnees
In a report released on Tuesday, UNHCR noted that escalating violence and human rights violations in and around El Fasher and other areas of North Darfur are the primary drivers of displacement. More than 179,000 Sudanese refugees have been registered since January 2025.
Due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in Darfur, coupled with economic deterioration and mass displacement, cross-border movements to Chad are anticipated to persist in the coming weeks. UNHCR said the scale and pace of these movements will depend largely on security conditions and road accessibility
Newly arrived refugees, mainly women and children, reach the border exhausted and traumatized, requiring urgent protection and lifesaving assistance. According to the UN agency, women and children represent 87 percent of registered refugees. The most vulnerable people include women, older adults, people with disabilities, children, and single parents.
Widespread insecurity, sexual violence, forced recruitment, extortion, rampant crime, movement restrictions, and ethnic tensions are the main causes of displacement, all of which are exacerbated by the ongoing conflict.
Since the war in Sudan began on April 15, 2023, the Chadian authorities, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have monitored and assisted the arrival of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees in the provinces of Ouaddai, Sila, Wadi-Fira, and Ennedi Est.
Humanitarian agencies support the Chadian government and local authorities in providing lifesaving assistance and protection services.
Together, the government and UNHCR have helped approximately two-thirds of the refugees — around 600,000 people — relocate from sites of spontaneous arrival to extended and newly established settlements, where refugees and host communities benefit from services provided by humanitarian organizations.
However, the refugee response is severely underfunded. The Sudanese Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) requested US $1.81 billion for 2025 to support refugees and host communities in seven neighboring countries. Yet, to date, the plan has only received 24 percent of the requested funding.
In a report released on Monday, the UN World Food Programme stated that it was providing assistance to 1.2 million people per month in Chad as part of its crisis response.
In light of the recent surge in violence in El Fasher, the WFP intends to provide assistance to an additional 120,000 individuals, comprising 90,000 refugees and 30,000 returnees, who are anticipated to arrive in Wadi Fira, Ouaddaï, and Ennedi Est by the end of December 2025.
However, the UN agency also reports — with famine now confirmed in the towns of El Fasher (North Darfur) and Kadugli (South Kordofan) in Sudan — that Chadian communities along the eastern border are expressing growing concerns over scarce water resources, overstretched infrastructure, and the risk of disease outbreaks. These communities are already under pressure from hosting previous waves of refugees.
Chad is facing its very own humanitarian crisis
Driven by a combination of regional violence, food insecurity, forced displacement, climate shocks such as floods, and recurrent health emergencies, Chad is experiencing one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian crises in the region. In 2025, over 7 million people required humanitarian aid.
Recent cuts to humanitarian aid funding by the United States and leading European donor governments, particularly Germany, have exacerbated the situation. Currently, only 28.5 percent of the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan for Chad is funded, forcing aid agencies to refocus their efforts on life-saving interventions.
Long-standing food insecurity in the Sahel nation has been compounded by the forced displacement of populations due to community conflicts and the activities of armed groups in the Lac and Sud provinces, while health emergencies are fueled by chronic malnutrition and lack of access to safe water.
Since mid-July, a cholera epidemic has affected the provinces of Ouaddaï, Sila, Guéra, and Hadjer-Lamis and is spreading toward the central and western provinces with an alarming fatality rate. This health crisis comes on top of the continuing influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan and deteriorating food security.
An estimated 3.6 million people in Chad are severely food insecure, with the most vulnerable being children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women. An estimated 1.8 million children under five years old suffer from acute malnutrition, including over 700,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
On Monday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) issued a statement urging the Chadian government to collaborate with humanitarian and development organizations to address the root causes of malnutrition and food insecurity in the long term.
According to MSF, this includes developing resilient agriculture, improving access to and management of water, and strengthening community food storage capacities.
Looking ahead
According to the Global Humanitarian Overview, at least 4 million people will require humanitarian assistance in Chad in 2026. However, this decrease of more than 40 percent compared to this year does not reflect an improvement in the humanitarian situation. Rather, it is due to the adoption of methods focused on the people and areas most affected by severe shocks.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stressed that the underlying crisis remains just as severe.
Those targeted are the most vulnerable, but this leaves millions of others suffering unaccounted for, contrary to the first principle of humanitarian aid: to prevent and alleviate suffering wherever it may be found.
The shift in 2026 reflects only a fraction of the suffering; it simply aligns figures with available financial resources and sharper prioritization. Meanwhile, the underlying pressures on affected communities remain intense and undiminished.
Experts argue that the massive reduction in the reported number of people in need is either wishful thinking or a way to dress up the accounts instead of accurately reporting today's realities.