Iran Press/Africa: The majority of refugees are women, children, and senior citizens who have fled villages near the border since violence erupted on April 3, said Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Some refugees have been forced to relocate several times when previous clashes killed more than 200 people, two weeks after a joint peace mission to the region by the UN and the African Union ended in January.
“The refugees arriving in Chad talk of the destruction of their homes and possessions and targeted attacks on refugee sites,” Baloch said in a statement, describing conditions in eastern Chad as “disastrous”.
“Families are living in the open air or are sheltering under trees or in makeshift huts,” he said.
“They have almost no protection against the elements in a region where temperatures regularly reach 40 degrees Celsius during the day,” he said.
The vast Darfur region was previously ravaged by a civil war that erupted in 2003, leaving about 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the United Nations.
101/216
Read more:
UN urges protection of civilian without discrimination in West Darfur
More than 60 killed in fresh violence in Sudan’s Darfur region: UN
