The United Nations has issued an urgent warning over a rapidly spreading cholera outbreak that is endangering the lives of thousands of Sudanese refugees from the war-torn Darfur region, amid severe shortages of clean water, sanitation facilities, and medical supplies.
Speaking on Friday, UN agencies cautioned that the situation in Iridimi refugee camp, located in eastern Chad near the Sudanese border, has reached a critical point. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the highly contagious water-borne disease has already infected hundreds in the camp, where living conditions are dire and health infrastructure is overwhelmed.
A Deadly and Fast-Acting Disease
Cholera, caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, is one of the world’s most dangerous yet preventable diseases. WHO officials stress that it can kill within hours if left untreated due to rapid dehydration caused by severe diarrhea and vomiting.
Dr. Ilham Nour, WHO Senior Emergency Officer, said that the outbreak is part of a wider regional crisis. “Since July 2024, more than 100,000 cholera cases have been recorded across affected areas, and refugee camps like Iridimi are among the hardest hit,” she explained. “The lack of clean water and proper sanitation is fueling the spread.”
In Iridimi, where thousands of Sudanese have sought shelter after fleeing violence in Darfur, aid workers report that many residents rely on unsafe water sources, and makeshift latrines are shared by dozens of families. This environment, experts warn, is ideal for the disease to thrive.
UNHCR Sounds the Alarm
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has raised concerns about the scale of the threat. Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR’s Principal Situation Coordinator for Eastern Chad, warned that up to 230,000 refugees could be at risk if urgent interventions are not made.
“Currently, we have recorded 264 confirmed cholera cases in Iridimi camp, including 12 deaths,” Ahouansou told reporters. “As a consequence, the UNHCR has suspended the relocation of refugees from border entry points to prevent further spread of the disease.”
The suspension means that new arrivals fleeing Sudan’s conflict will remain in temporary border shelters until the outbreak is brought under control — a move that could strain already limited resources and create further humanitarian bottlenecks.
Conflict at the Heart of the Crisis
The outbreak is unfolding against the backdrop of Sudan’s brutal civil war, now in its third year. The conflict erupted in April 2023 when tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) escalated into open combat. What began as street battles in the capital, Khartoum, quickly spread across the country, triggering mass displacement and a collapse of basic services.
Since the war began, at least 20,000 people have been reported killed — a figure that humanitarian groups believe is a significant undercount due to limited access to many areas. The United Nations estimates that more than 14 million people have been displaced, both internally and across Sudan’s borders, with Chad absorbing a large proportion of the refugees from the Darfur region.
Chad’s eastern provinces, which share a long and porous border with Sudan, now host hundreds of thousands of refugees in camps such as Iridimi, Adré, and Farchana. These areas, already vulnerable to food insecurity and climate shocks, are struggling to cope with the influx.
World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis
The UN has repeatedly described Sudan’s situation as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with famine-like conditions spreading in several states. Aid agencies warn that the collapse of public health systems, combined with acute shortages of clean water and nutritious food, is creating a perfect storm for disease outbreaks.
“Sudan today faces a convergence of crises — war, displacement, hunger, and disease,” said a joint statement from the UNHCR and WHO. “Cholera is only the latest threat, and without swift action, it could claim thousands more lives.”
Medical workers on the ground say they are in a race against time. Cholera treatment centers are operating beyond capacity, with shortages of oral rehydration salts, IV fluids, and antibiotics. Many patients arrive too late to be saved, particularly those in remote areas who must walk for hours or days to reach a clinic.
Urgent Calls for International Support
The UN and partner organizations are appealing for increased funding to launch emergency water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) campaigns in refugee camps and host communities. These efforts include drilling boreholes, distributing water purification tablets, and conducting mass vaccination campaigns where feasible.
“Preventing cholera is simple in theory — clean water, proper sanitation, and rapid treatment — but in a refugee camp setting, where resources are stretched to breaking point, implementing these measures requires significant international support,” Dr. Nour emphasized.
Aid workers are also urging donors to prioritize Chad in humanitarian funding allocations. Despite hosting one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, the country’s response plan for 2025 remains critically underfunded.
A Human Toll Beyond Numbers
Behind the statistics are stories of unimaginable hardship. Many of those now facing cholera have already endured years of violence in Darfur, where entire villages have been burned, families separated, and livelihoods destroyed. For these survivors, illness is yet another burden in a chain of suffering.
Fatima, a 34-year-old mother of four who fled West Darfur in mid-2024, told Africa Live News that her youngest child fell ill last week. “He had severe diarrhea and vomiting,” she said. “We tried to give him water, but nothing stayed in. I was so afraid I would lose him.” After receiving treatment at a camp clinic, her son is now recovering.
Such cases, aid workers say, highlight the urgent need for rapid response systems that can detect and treat cholera cases before they become fatal.
The Road Ahead
With the rainy season approaching, health experts warn that cholera transmission could intensify in eastern Chad, where flooding often contaminates water sources. Without decisive intervention, they say, the outbreak could spread to other camps and local communities, deepening the crisis.
For now, humanitarian agencies are working to contain the spread through community education, sanitation campaigns, and targeted medical interventions. But with conflict still raging across the border in Sudan, the influx of refugees is unlikely to slow — meaning the threat of new outbreaks will remain high.
As the UN’s Ahouansou put it: “We are fighting not just a disease, but the conditions that allow it to thrive. Unless we address both, cholera will keep coming back.”
For the thousands of Sudanese families in Iridimi and beyond, the hope is that this warning will translate into swift action before more lives are lost.
