Sudan Conflict Escalates: Thousands Flee Into Chad as Ethnic Violence Surges

  A fresh wave of ethnic violence in war-torn Sudan has forced thousands of civilians to flee across the border into Chad, intensifying what humanitarian agencies now describe as one of the worst refugee crises in Africa in over a decade.

Over the past 72 hours, at least 17,000 Sudanese mostly women, children, and elderly men have arrived in makeshift camps along Chad’s eastern border, escaping violent clashes between rival militias in West Darfur and South Kordofan.

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According to the Chadian Red Cross and the UNHCR, the newly displaced have arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs, seeking shelter in already overcrowded camps plagued by food shortages, disease, and poor sanitation.

The recent flare-up began last week when fighting erupted between Arab militias and African farming communities, reigniting tensions that echo the region’s bloody past. Eye-witnesses report that entire villages were torched, livestock slaughtered, and civilians hunted down by gunmen on motorcycles.

“I lost my two brothers in one night,” said Fatima Suleiman, a 39-year-old mother of five who arrived at the border camp near Adré, Chad, on Sunday. “They came while we were sleeping and burned everything. We had to run through the bush with our children.”

Human rights observers are now warning of a fresh wave of ethnic cleansing, as similar patterns of violence and targeted attacks re-emerge from the chaos of Sudan’s deepening civil war.

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With more than 450,000 Sudanese refugees already sheltering in Chad before this latest influx, the country is now struggling to cope with the sudden surge. Aid agencies warn that current resources are stretched to the limit, with some camps receiving no food or medical supplies for days.

Chad’s government, though sympathetic to the plight of their neighbors, is demanding urgent international support. “We cannot carry this burden alone,” said Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir. “We are doing everything we can, but without global assistance, we risk a humanitarian collapse.”

Despite the scale of the crisis, global response has been muted. The United Nations Security Council is yet to release a formal statement, while Western nations have mostly focused on diplomatic efforts in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, which remains under siege by rival military factions.

In the meantime, aid workers are calling for a humanitarian corridor to be opened, allowing emergency supplies and medical aid to reach affected areas both inside Sudan and along Chad’s vulnerable eastern front.

As international attention fades, those caught in the conflict pay the highest price. Children in the camps suffer from acute malnutrition, and cases of cholera and dysentery are beginning to rise. Health workers also fear outbreaks of measles and malaria as the rainy season approaches.

For refugees like Fatima, survival is now the only goal. “We don’t care about politics. We just want to live,” she said, holding her youngest child under the scorching Sahel sun. “Let someone, anyone, hear our cries.”