UAE delivers food aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad

Humanitarian initiative aims to support those forced to flee conflict in their home country

UAE aid workers distribute vital food supplies for Sudanese refugees and the local community in the city of Amdjarass in Chad. Wam

An Emirati humanitarian task force is delivering crucial food supplies to Sudanese refugees in Chad who fled their war-torn homeland.

A delegation led by the Emirates Red Crescent, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation and the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is lending vital support to communities in the Central African country, which has welcomed huge numbers of people from neighbouring Sudan in recent months.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people have crossed the border to Chad to seek sanctuary from fierce fighting which first broke out in April.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are engaged in a bitter power struggle which has developed into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with hundreds of confirmed deaths and the displacement of millions.

The relief teams are distributing food parcels to both embattled Sudanese refugees and residents in the city of Amdjarass, in Chad, in co-ordination with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

They are assessing the needs of refugees and the local community through field visits to help boost living conditions under the initiative launched this week.

Dr Ahmed Al Dhaheri, head of the ERC Delegation in Chad, said the assistance was aimed to "alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese refugees", in remarks carried by state news agency Wam on Sunday.

He said the UAE would work with local relief agencies to deliver support to the largest number of people possible.

Key UAE support

Sudanese family sit beside their belongings while waiting to be registered by the UN Refugee Agency after crossing the border into Adre, Chad. All photos: Reuters

Sudanese children who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, line up to receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad.

A Sudanese woman carries her daughter after being relocated from makeshift shelters to a refugee camp in Ourang, Chad.

A volunteer hands a child to his mother, a Sudanese woman, in a French Army truck that will relocate them to a refugee camp in Ourang, Chad.

An aerial view of a refugee camp in Ourang, Chad, where Sudanese refugees who fled the conflict in their homeland are based.

A Sudanese woman sits beside her daughter who is suffering from malnutrition at a Medecins Sans Frontieres mission hospital in Adre, Chad.

Sudanese refugees sit on a truck that will relocate them to a refugee camp in Adre, Chad.

A Sudanese woman who fled the conflict sits with her children on the ground beside makeshift shelters in Adre, Chad.

Sudanese refugees sit inside a makeshift shelter during a rainstorm at a refugee camp in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad.

Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region sit inside their shelter during a storm at a refugee camp in Ourang, Chad.

Sudanese refugees use plastic sheeting to shield themselves from the rain at the camp in Ourang, Chad.

The UAE opened a field hospital in Amdjarass on July 9 as part of its efforts to bolster health services battling to treat a huge influx of refugees.

The facility, opened under the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed, treated more than 1,200 refugees in its first days.

It is focused on cases involving women, children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.

Since the conflict started on April 15, the UAE has operated an air and sea bridge to the region, transporting nearly 2,000 tonnes of medical, food and relief materials to Port Sudan and Chad.

Attempts to secure a peaceful resolution to the three-month war have so far been unsuccessful.