Breidjing Camp is a refugee camp in Chad created in May 2004 for Sudanese refugees from Darfur.

While they may be safe from attack in Chad, for many of the refugees the living conditions in Chad one year on since they fled are still unbearable. Take the camp in Breidjing, for example. It is the largest of the camps along the Sudanese border and, with more than 43,000 refugees there, it is more than overcrowded.

A third of the refugees are not registered, and those who do not have official refugee status were unable to find a place in the tents set up by the UN's refugee agency. They are living in simple makeshift shelters made using branches and plastic.

Furthermore, they are not receiving sufficient food rations, resulting in malnutrition, especially amongst the children. But even when there is enough food to go round, the children can very quickly become malnourished as a result of diseases such as tuberculosis. In Breidjing alone, around 400 children are being treated by MSF with special nourishment.

Fortunately, there were no outbreaks of cholera in any of the camps during the rainy season, in spite of the particularly bad hygiene levels at that time. Our efforts to install more latrines and improve drinking water supplies certainly helped in this respect.

WHY AREN'T ALL THE REFUGEES REGISTERED?

According to UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, the camp is only designed for a maximum of 30,000 people. But newcomers are generally unwilling to be sent to other camps as they wish to stay with the rest of their village community or family.

A second camp has now been set up near to Breidjing, where several thousand refugees can be relocated. We hope that this will help alleviate the situation in terms of food and drinking water supplies in both camps.

One of the greatest risks during the rainy season was that infectious diseases, such as cholera, could break out. Now the rainy season has passed, can the all-clear be sounded?

Fortunately, there were no outbreaks of cholera in any of the camps during the rainy season, in spite of the particularly bad hygiene levels at that time. Our efforts to install more latrines and improve drinking water supplies certainly helped in this respect.

We are, however, now very concerned that there are cases of Hepatitis E in Breidjing camp. It shows just how bad the level of hygiene remains in the camp, as this acute liver inflammation is often passed on via contaminated drinking water.

We are now also seeing more and more cases of malaria in our healthcare centres. In Breidjing camp alone, we see around 160 cases every week.

In the case of pregnant women, this disease can often be fatal. There is no effective medication for Hepatitis E, so we are only able to treat the symptoms. We are also scaling up prevention efforts by employing more hygiene and health educators.

Ireland: Refugee Documentation Centre, Chad: Any information on Bredjing (Breidjing) camp in Chad - were the Red Cross working there?, 26 March 2009, Q09632, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/49d9ebbe1f.html [accessed 8 November 2020]