Sudan: cholera outbreak hits refugee camps hard

The UN warned on Friday that a cholera outbreak is threatening the lives of refugees from Sudan's Darfur region while basic resources run short.

In Iridimi camp in Chad, many refugees don't have access to sanitation and clean water, putting them at a high risk for contracting Cholera. The World Health Organization said that the water-borne disease is a fast-developing and highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea and leads to severe dehydration and possible death within hours when not treated.

The disease is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.

According Dr Ilham Nour, WHO Senior Emergency Officer, over 100,000 cases have been recorded since July 2024.

Another deadly crisis

The outbreak is the latest crisis for Sudan, which was plunged into a war more than two years ago, when tensions between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group, or RSF, exploded with street battles in Khartoum that quickly spread across the country.

Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR Principal Situation Coordinator for Eastern Chad, said that 230,000 refugees could be at risk if "urgent action" is not taken. He added that 264 case have been recorded in the camp, along with 12 deaths.

"As a consequence, the UNHCR has suspended the relocation of refugees from border points in order to prevent new cases," he said.

At least 20,000 people have been reported killed since the war broke out, though the number is likely far higher, and more than 14 million have been displaced and forced from their homes.

Sudan has also been engulfed by what the United Nations says is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and disease outbreaks, famine and atrocities have mounted as the African country entered its third year of war.