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The ‘World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis’ Comes Into Focus


Adré is supposed to be a town of transition. Perched on the border between Chad and Sudan, the city, which was initially used for cross-border trade, has now become the passing point for people escaping civil war and famine in what some diplomats have called the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world.” 

More than 600,000 refugees have reportedly fled from Sudan to Chad in the last 16 months, meaning the neighboring country has seen more Sudanese refugees in one year than the previous 20 years combined, many of which have settled in makeshift borders, per remarks made by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Another 10 million people remain forcibly displaced within Sudan since the internal political conflict began in April 2023. 

The newly-arrived families, mostly women and children, are entirely reliant on the aid of humanitarian groups, but in order to receive such assistance people must first wait their turn to be registered, which can take days, says Nicolò Filippo Rosso. A documentary photographer, Rosso visited refugee camps in Chad earlier in the summer, during trips with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sudanese women and children register with Chadian authorities upon arrival in Adré, a border town in the Ouaddaï province.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—WHO

Rosso recounts meeting one pregnant woman who had recently arrived at the refugee camp in Adré with her children and was on the verge of giving birth. Sharing her plight, the woman told him that her children were exhausted from walking, had high temperatures, and were not eating properly.

The town of Adré is largely overwhelmed. “I’ve seen a lot of things related to migration in many places, but this was the first time that I really felt that it couldn’t be worse than that,” says Rosso. “There is a lot of intervention from NGOs and from United Nations agencies, but it’s not complete because Adré is so close to the border that it is unsafe because there are gangs raiding the camps at night, and raping women and girls, and there is a lot of traffic of weapons.”

Even so, there have been several obstacles to distributing aid. Adré was closed off to international aid for six months, though it was announced on Aug. 15 that the embargo had been lifted. In June, the UNHCR said they only received 10% of the requested $214.8 million in aid necessary to help refugees at the border. The ask was made just prior to the rainy season, which typically lasts through September, and could exacerbate the existing crisis and cause outbreaks of waterborne diseases, according to the UNHCR. 

Sudanese refugee women collect water from a well at Adré refugee camp.Nicolò Filippo Rosso

Rosso, who himself contracted malaria, pneumonia, and COVID-19, says it’s very common to get these diseases. “The point is that you can cure malaria, you can cure COVID, but it’s open [defecation]. There is no sanitation, so the condition[s] people are living in is bad,” he says.

The photographer, who has documented other migrant crises in the Americas, typically composes black-and-white work, but has used color in the project to better encapsulate the “dignity that the Sudanese refugees have and their openness to each other, to others.”

“These women who are alone and [have gone] through violence of all kinds are there with their children maintaining pride [and] also, femininity,” Rosso says. “Color also is full of details that sometimes can distract you from the pain.”

Namarkh Babikir (left) and Hawa Adam (right) stand together during a wedding at Adré refugee camp.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—WHO
Sudanese refugees crossing into neighboring Chad at the border town of Adré.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
Sudanese women and children register with Chadian authorities upon arrival in Adré.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
Afrah Amdelkarim Hamid, 24, and her child, 2-year-old Mandoub, wait to see medical personnel at hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Aboutengue, a refugee site in eastern Chad a few hours from Adré. Aboutengue is home to some 50,000 refugees fleeing ongoing hostilities in Sudan.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
Women cover themselves with shawls while a sandstorm ravages the Adrè refugee camp. Without proper sanitation and open defecation as a common practice, the wind raises and scatters waste across the camp.Nicolò Filippo Rosso
Sudanese refugees wait for the WFP monthly food distribution in Adrè. Nicolò Filippo Rosso—WHO
Alsadik Isshak Arbab, 45, relies on a cane as a result of injuries he sustained as he fled fighting in his native Sudan, taking refuge in neighboring Chad.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
Two boys cross the rugged landscape around the Aboutengue refugee camp.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
People unload food from WFP trucks during the monthly distribution at Adrè.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—WHO
Sudanese women from Geneina, who live in the Adrè refugee camp, pile bricks from a hoven for 1000XAF per day, equivalent to $1.60 USD, insufficient to feed a person.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—WHO
Ahmat Abakar Bakhit, a 27-year-old Sudanese refugee, gets fitted for a prosthesis at a clinic run by the charity Handicap International in Abutengue refugee camp. Ahmat lost a leg in a bombing back in his native Sudan, and his injuries have complicated the already-difficult task of adapting to his new life as a refugee in Chad. But now, thanks to the crucial contribution of the European Union, he has received a prosthesis and is undergoing physical therapy aimed at teaching him how to adapt to the new limb.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
Children play on a metal structure inside the Adrè refugee camp. UNICEF has reported that almost four million children in Sudan face acute malnutrition, and within refugee sites in Chad such as Adrè, budget cuts mean that residents have seen their food rations reduced.Nicolò Filippo Rosso
Naba Akbar Azien, an 8-year-old Sudanese girl whose family fled to neighboring Chad, poses in front of a building in Aboutengue. Her father, Aboubakar, sustained injuries back in his native Sudan that have complicated the already difficult task of adapting to life as a refugee.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—UNHCR
A sandstorm ravages the Adrè refugee camp.Nicolò Filippo Rosso—WHO



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