Several Thousand Migrants Stranded in Desperate State in Remote Chadian Border Town with Niger
An IOM mission is underway to begin helping several thousand
migrants currently stranded in the remote mountainous Chadian
border town of Zouarké close to Niger.
According to the Chadian government, more than 3,800 migrants
including 310 women and children are in a very difficult situation
in Zouarké with limited food, no water and transport to make
their journey south.
With no-one to help them and without transport to take them to
Faya, 600 kms south east of Zouarké, many are famished and
suffering from exposure to extreme heat and dust. Water is also a
key issue with the nearest well 7 kms away from the town. Four
people are reported to have died from drinking its contaminated
water.
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The IOM team have taken essential medical supplies to
Zouarké as 53 migrants are reported to be sick from severe
dehydration and other illnesses, or injured with broken bones. An
IOM truck loaded with food and water supplies in addition to an
empty truck to bring back the most vulnerable among the group are
following the team to Zouarké and are due to arrive there in
a day or so.
Among the most vulnerable are heavily pregnant women and young
children left behind by other convoys, unable to travel in the
heavily over-crowded trucks. Two children are believed to have died
from suffocation as a result of the overcrowding in the trucks they
were travelling on from Libya.
En route to Faya, the migrants arrived in the border town
between 20-29 April after making a long and dangerous journey from
Libya via Niger.
Landmines along the Aozou Strip between Chad and Libya are
forcing migrants to transit through Niger in order to reach Chad.
Zouarké is the first arrival point for those arriving from
Gatroun, about 800 kms away in Libya.
The situation at Zouarké could become a catastrophe.
Another 1,000 migrants on 10 trucks travelling from Gatroun are
expected to arrive there in the coming days and will also be in
urgent need of water, food and medical care.
In addition to taking supplies to Zouarké, the IOM team
will carry out an assessment to determine appropriate action to
reduce the threat to the lives of thousands of returning Chadian
migrants. This could include the setting up of a way station to
provide water, food, medical care and other emergency assistance
for migrants travelling along this route.
More than 25,000 migrants, mainly Chadians have so far arrived
in the remote northern towns of Faya and Kalait from Libya since
the crisis began.
For further information, please contact:
Qasim Sufi
IOM Chad
Tel: + 235 62 900 674
E-mail:
"mailto:qsufi@iom.int">qsufi@iom.int
or
Jemini Pandya
IOM Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 717 9486
+ 41 79 217 3374
E-mail:
"mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int