The Touloum refugee camp in eastern Chad is buckling under the weight of an escalating crisis.
As refugees flee the civil war in Sudan, the camp, already overcrowded, faces severe shortages of food and medical resources.
Nadjala Mourraou, a Sudanese mother, arrived at the camp over a year ago with her malnourished son, Ahma.
Like many others, they endure hunger, subsisting on little more than a daily bowl of assida.
“We’re suffering from a lack of food,” Mourraou lamented.
The camp, which houses between 25,000 and 30,000 refugees, has become a frontline in a humanitarian crisis.
Over the past two weeks, malnutrition cases have surged. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reports that nearly half of all daily consultations are related to malnutrition.
With temperatures soaring above 40°C (104°F), the situation worsens.
The Iriba district hospital, overwhelmed by the influx of patients, could not save the first Sudanese infant to die of malnutrition this month.
Chad, one of the world’s poorest nations, has welcomed more than 770,000 Sudanese refugees, and the UN predicts that number could soon rise to a million.
Yet, the country’s resources are stretched thin. The UN’s refugee agency has requested $409 million in aid to alleviate the burden.
Local leaders, including Wadi Fira province governor Djimbaye Kam-Ndoh, call for international support, highlighting the immense strain on both refugees and host communities.
As humanitarian aid slows, the region faces an imminent food and health crisis, exacerbated by the approaching rainy season.