Germany plans to assist Chad in taking in refugees from Sudan, its neighbour to the east, Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Svenja Schulze said on Monday at the start of a four-day visit to Chad.
More than 700,000 refugees have sought shelter in eastern Chad, a country that is among the world’s poorest.
A long-running power struggle in Sudan has displaced more than 11.6 million people within the country and across its borders.
“The situation of the people in Sudan is receiving too little attention, even though this is the largest refugee crisis in the world at the moment,” Schulze said. She added than more than 90% of those arriving in Chad were women and children.
“They are entering a country that is itself confronted with insecurity, drought, flooding and hunger. Nevertheless, Chad is not erecting fences, but is showing solidarity with the refugees,” Schulze said.
Schulze first travelled to N’Djamena to speak to the government and representatives of civil society in the capital on the situation and their needs.
In the days ahead, she will be the first European Union minister to travel to the east of the country right up to Adré on the Sudanese border, where hundreds of refugees arrive every day and where she will visit refugee camps, a nutrition centre and a health clinic.
Aid is transported to Sudan’s Darfur region also cross the border here.
