MSF CHAD: Tine, two months after repeated attacks at the border

At the end of February, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed the capture of the Sudanese city of Tina, in North Darfur state right next to Tine, eastern Chad. Heavy attacks, which continue to this day, have resulted in significant consequences for the civilian population, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. Civilians from Darfur region have experienced extreme levels of violence including ethnic targeting of non-Arab communities, bombardment and large-scale executions. In Tine, MSF provides medical and humanitarian support to people fleeing violence.

“We have been working around the clock. Our team has supported Chad’s health authorities in treating 457 people in two months. Civilians were not spared from violence with six children among the wounded,” explains Rita Magano, medical project coordinator in Tine who was part of the MSF team responding to 13 mass casualty incidents. “Around 50 per cent of the injuries were on the upper and lower limbs, with a significant proportion of open fractures. We did not expect such a large influx of seriously wounded patients. We did our best to stabilize them, dress wounds and perform life-saving surgeries.” In total, 38 people died at the hospital, with 19 in a single day on 16 March following attacks at the border.

MSF teams were initially supporting Mabrouka hospital in Tine located a few hundred metres from the border.

“On 21 February, we closed and transferred people and the equipment to the new health facility within a few hours because there were bullets and shelling near the hospital and we couldn’t guarantee security” says MSF logistic manager Jean Hippolyte, one of the 11 MSF staff supporting the newly built hospital in Tine. “One day we received 123 patients at once and were running out of medication critical in surgeries. Access to water and electricity was also disrupted in the new hospital, making the emergency response very challenging.”

On 18 March, a drone attack killed 17 people who were attending a funeral in Tine, according to the Chadian authorities. MSF teams treated 24 people, with many in critical condition. Attacks in Chad place both humanitarian workers and civilians, including refugees who fled the war in Sudan, at risk.

“We keep adapting and relocating our activities. Our team went on hibernation on a few occasions for security reasons. The current insecurity makes it unsustainable for MSF to provide even a minimum of medical support to people seeking protection in Chad.”

MSF also works in a transit camp in Tine to support refugees who fled the war in Sudan. Despite the security challenges, the team continues to provide outpatient consultations, nutritional screening, vaccinations, support to survivors of sexual violence, and to set up mobile medical clinics. MSF is the only organisation providing water after others left due to lack of resources. In addition, Tine is currently experiencing a measles outbreak - as are other districts in Chad - urging MSF to vaccinate 710 children on 25 and 26 March.

Civilians at the Chad-Sudan border need immediate protection. Given the continued deterioration of the situation in North Darfur, the global humanitarian funding cuts, as well as extreme levels of violence and deprivation experienced by displaced families, people’s humanitarian needs are massive and they need critical support.