Reference :
V-P-TD-E-00618
Date :
28/05/2013
Caption :
Tissi. Distribution of essential household items to vulnerable families who have fled the fighting in West Darfur.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC website, Operational Update No 01/13, 12/06/2013
Chad: Situation precarious for people displaced in Tissi
The situation of thousands of people displaced in Tissi, eastern Chad, remains worrying. In the absence of any suitable medical facility, the ICRC has just transferred 19 seriously injured people by air to Abéché Regional Hospital, where its surgical team is attending to them.
Several tens of thousands of people have flooded into the Chadian city of Tissi since 5 April because of inter-community clashes in the Um Dukhun area, in the west of Darfur. Sudanese and Chadians have arrived in eastern Chad from Darfur.
The are still tensions in the area among the communities. "We continue to monitor the situation so that we can take action if there is a need to do so," said Hélène Plennevaux, the head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Abéché. The ICRC transferred the most seriously injured people out of the area between 27 May and 7 June.
In April, when the first refugees and Chadian returnees began to arrive, the ICRC took 18 seriously injured people to Abéché Regional Hospital so that they would receive suitable care.
From 6 May to 2 June, in cooperation with Red Cross of Chad volunteers, the ICRC distributed aid to 10,000 of the neediest returnees in the country. Every family in 15 villages in the Tissi area was given clothing, blankets, sleeping mats, jerrycans, mosquito nets, soap, kitchen utensils and tarpaulins.
"The situation is difficult for displaced people. We are trying to meet the most urgent needs by providing aid before the onset of the rainy season, which will render the roads impassable and therefore make access to the area very difficult," said Ms Plennevaux.
"Most of these people fled without taking anything with them, so they need the items we are providing to protect themselves from bad weather. The families, consisting mainly of women and children and sometimes elderly or disabled dependents, need shelter and emergency supplies," insisted Ms Plennevaux. Furthermore, since stagnant rainwater may cause unhealthy sanitary conditions and attract mosquitoes, it is important to have jerrycans for keeping water and mosquito nets for protecting oneself.
The ICRC is continuing its dialogue with the civilian and military authorities on humanitarian principles and on the need to protect and respect civilians and detainees. Meetings and information sessions are held for this purpose with units of the defence and security forces and with traditional and other civilian authorities in Abéché and N'Djamena.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
4608x3456
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
