More than 400 people a day are now crossing into eastern Chad from Sudan, a roughly twentyfold increase over the daily rate seen in previous months, UNHCR said at a Geneva briefing on 25 September 2026. The figure was delivered by Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR's Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation, who told reporters via video link from Nairobi that arrivals at the Adré and Tiné border areas had accelerated sharply over the preceding week. Reuters, Al Jazeera, Arab News and other outlets reported the same figures the same day, all citing UNHCR as the source.
The acceleration coincides with a funding collapse. Reuters wire copy quoted UNHCR as saying only 18% of the $1.6 billion sought this year for the regional Sudan refugee response had been received; UNHCR's own briefing note puts the figure at 20%. The discrepancy between the agency's published note and its spoken briefing to journalists has not been resolved in available reporting, and readers should treat the funding share as roughly one-fifth of target rather than a precise figure. Almost 1 million Sudanese refugees have crossed into Chad since April 2023, when Sudan's civil war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces began, with more than 55,000 arriving in 2026 alone.
A transit centre in Tine is already sheltering more than 4,300 people amid shortages of shelter, water, sanitation and protection services, Balde said. More than 190,000 refugees along the Chad border are in difficult conditions, with most surviving on less than half the minimum daily water requirement — a figure confirmed independently by UNHCR's own briefing note as well as multiple wire services quoting Balde.
Reuters attributed part of the funding shortfall to cuts by the Trump administration and other donor countries over the past year, though no itemized donor-by-donor breakdown was provided. UNHCR has not published a quantified split between conflict-driven flight — intensified fighting in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, including airstrikes and drone attacks — and drought as drivers of the September surge, and no Chadian government arrival tallies were found to compare against UNHCR's field figures.
The surge follows a volatile pattern at this border. Chad closed its eastern crossings with Sudan on 23 February 2026 after clashes tied to Sudan's civil war killed five Chadian soldiers and three civilians near Tine, with the government citing repeated incursions by warring parties. Chad's government said the closure would last until further notice, though some humanitarian exceptions were allowed. Weeks later, a drone strike on the Chadian border town of Tiné on 19 March 2026 killed civilians and prompted a further closure of crossings with Sudan, underlining how the same corridor has repeatedly oscillated between humanitarian lifeline and security flashpoint. UNHCR and the World Food Programme had already warned in April 2026 of a $428 million funding gap threatening aid for over a million Sudanese refugees in Chad as the conflict entered its fourth year.
UNHCR warned that unmet basic needs risk pushing more Sudanese refugees toward dangerous secondary migration toward Europe after failed attempts to secure safety in Chad. What to watch: whether donor pledges materialize before the Tine transit centre's capacity is further exceeded; any renewed border restrictions if fighting or drone strikes near Tine escalate again; and whether Chad's own arrival statistics are published to test UNHCR's field data.