Germany to support Chad land programme for refugees, families in need

Germany plans to support a project to integrate Sudanese refugees in Chad, Development Minister Svenja Schulze said on Wednesday on a visit to the country.

Over the next five years, Chad's government plans to lease 100,000 hectares of land free of charge, half to refugee families and the other half to needy families in host communities. One hectare is to be allocated per family.

The World Food Programme is to support the families in making the land usable.

Sudan has been plagued by violence and a bloody power struggle between rival factions, which has driven many to flee the country for safety in neighbouring Chad and elsewhere.

"Unfortunately, we have to assume that a return to Sudan will not be possible for most refugees in the foreseeable future," said Schulze, as she visited the Adré border crossing in eastern Chad.

Humanitarian aid is not a permanent solution, she added.

"That's why the approach of giving the refugees and host communities land and making it usable again as fields and pastures is so groundbreaking - those who have fertile land can provide for themselves," she said.

Around 250,000 refugees are currently living under difficult conditions in basic temporary accommodations in the Adré area alone, according to Janine Lietmeyer, director of the aid organization World Vision Germany.

In many cases, people are living under tarpaulins that have been pulled over tree trunks or poles, Lietmeyer said.