Chad: Sudanese families separated by conflict find hope one phone call at a time

The city of Adré in Ouaddaï Province, eastern Chad, is only a few kilometres from Darfur and has become one of the main destinations for refugees fleeing Sudan. The hot, dry climate in these semi-arid plains makes life all the more gruelling for people who are already suffering due to displacement and separation from their families. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Red Cross of Chad have teamed up to restore contact between refugees and their families and help them face the challenges of their precarious new life.

Hope despite adversity at Adré camp

In this temporary village of tightly packed tents, children play while adults whisper anxiously among themselves.

The youngest – cheerful despite the harsh conditions – are busy making footballs out of rags or bits of wood. Their mothers huddle around small fires preparing meals from what little food is available.

Thousands of refugees at Adré camp have lost contact with their families in Sudan. Hearing a familiar voice or seeing a beloved face can change everything.

Laila,* age 52, has travelled some 450 km from Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur. She fled with her eight children and three grandchildren, but her husband was too ill to go with them.

“When we left, I wasn’t sure I would survive the trip. We took nothing with us, because saving our lives was all that mattered,” Laila said.

One of her sons has a visual impairment and got lost during the trip. For months, Laila feared he was dead. “I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. Whenever I saw a boy his age, I’d start crying,” she said.

But with the ICRC’s help, mother and son were reunited: “After we got separated on the road,” Laila said, “my son ended up in the Kordofan region. It took months of searching, and several calls using the ICRC telephone booth, but he was eventually found in the town of En Nahud and brought to Adré.”

Still, life in the camp is hard. “We eat once a day. I can only earn up to 500 CFA francs, which isn’t nearly enough.”

A light at the end of the tunnel

Zainab,* age 25, fled with her children from El Fasher in Northern Darfur, some 350 km east of Adré. But her husband was hurt and had to stay in Sudan. For six months, she had no news from him. “My mind wasn’t easy. I just prayed and prayed. I was lost any time I stepped outside my tent,” she said.

At last, she learned her husband was alive after using the ICRC telephone booth to call a family member. She said she would never forget the evening during Ramadan when she heard his voice again. “I was handing out candy to everyone, that’s how happy I was! Now my children and I can finally sleep.”

It was also a phone call that brought Laila and her husband back together again. “I told him I was at Adré camp in Chad with our children,” she said. A few weeks later, he managed to join them. “Without those calls, we’d still be apart.”

Now reunited, the family are trying to build a life together at the camp.

Phone lines become lifelines 

Every call made through the ICRC telephone booth is emotionally charged. Some people are desperate to know whether their loved ones are dead or alive: “Is my sister safe in Nyala?” a woman asked, trembling as her hands gripped the phone. Others are trying to find someone who has gone missing: “Is my husband at Kalma camp or in El Fasher?”

Sometimes, the questions are not about missing loved ones, but where to get food and medicine, or how to travel with a sick child. “My baby needs milk,” one worried young mother said. “Can you tell me where to find some?”

Some calls end with tears of joy or relief, others with a heavy, uncertain silence when the caller cannot get through. “I don’t know if my brother is dead or alive. I couldn’t reach him,” a young man said, his face blank.

When the connection fails, Red Cross volunteers are there to listen, give reassurance and try again. They can also send messages if the network is down.

The ICRC telephone booth in Adré is run by Abdel Nasser Hamza, a volunteer with the Red Cross of Chad. “People line up early every morning to make calls. Families have been reunited thanks to this service. When a mother learns her child is alive, or when a wife finds her husband, their happiness is the best reward we could wish for. Knowing everything they’ve gone through, we get emotional ourselves when they finally reach their families,” he said, his voice breaking.

In addition to regular phone calls, the ICRC recently introduced video calling via WhatsApp. “They’re so moved when they can see their loved ones’ faces. We know our work has real meaning when they say they’ll pray for us,” Abdel said.

The calls are a daily reminder of the refugees’ anguish and resilience – and the vital importance of such services, which preserve human connection amid the horrors of armed conflict.

Immense needs, limited resources

Services like the ICRC telephone booth bring enormous comfort to people who have been separated from their loved ones. But humanitarian needs in Chad have far outpaced the country’s limited resources. The arrival of so many refugees has put considerable pressure on host communities and already-vulnerable infrastructure.

Meanwhile, financing for humanitarian action is insufficient and unstable. Many projects risk being scaled down or stopped, although the situation remains as urgent as ever.

Every call made, and every family reunited, is a reminder that international solidarity must be strengthened.

*Names changed for privacy..