QRCS provides aid to 27,000 Ethiopian refugees in Sudan

THE representative office of the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in Sudan has completed phase 1 of the emergency response to the recent influx of Ethiopian refugees from the war-torn Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Food and non-food aid has been distributed at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in Gadarif State to thousands of refugees facing severe conditions.

The distributions included 2,500 food parcels, each containing 44 kg of food items such as flour, rice, lentils, tea, salt and vegetable oil, as well as 2,000 hygiene kits. A total of 4,500 refugee families, an average of 27,000 beneficiaries, received these provisions.

These were part of Phase 1 of the project, involving multiple sectors, at a total cost of QR6,681,818. QRCS plans to distribute another 1,000 food parcels, to be shipped from Qatar later this month, making the total number of food parcels to 3,500.

In the coming period, phase 2 will begin the distribution of 2,180 relief kits (kitchenware, blankets, soap, jerry canes, water storage containers, tarpaulins and wash powders). In relation to water and sanitation, 300 permanent toilets will be supplied and installed. In partnership with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), the camp’s health centre will be furnished and operated to provide services.

Dr Awadallah Hamdan, head of the QRCS office in Sudan, said that the organisation would always be there for Sudan. Qatar, he said, will continue to support the Ethiopian refugees in Sudan with a variety of relief efforts.

QRCS has already responded to many of the country’s disasters, including flash floods and COVID-19. It works with SRCS on large-scale health and development projects in Darfur and many other countries.

Al Sayed Abdulazeem, SRCS manager of the Tunaydbah refugee camp, praised the diversity and size of food parcels provided by QRCS to Ethiopian refugees compared to other humanitarian providers. He described the aid as “timely to alleviate the suffering of the beneficiaries.”

Eng Abdulmoneim Othman, the camp’s manager from Sudan’s Commission of Refugees (COR), praised QRCS’s efforts and interventions and promised to offer all possible support to facilitate their work.

The Ethiopian refugees at the camp were appreciative of the ongoing relief assistance from the QRCS, which reflected on their smiling faces and grateful words as they happily received relief items.

Over the last few months, Ethiopian refugees have been displaced by violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. The latest estimates issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show 61,209 registered refugees. Up to $157 million is needed to respond to the urgent needs of up to 115,000 refugees and 22,000 host communities in Sudan and Djibouti by June 2021.

Gaps remain in all sectors, from water, sanitation and hygiene to health facilities, food, shelter, protection response, in particular youth protection activities, and psycho-social support. Fuel shortages, limited number of vehicles and limited road access are also challenging the relocation of new arrivals and the provision of supplies to the various sites. There is a serious need for energy, especially alternative cooking energy.