Saleh Abderamane, a Cameroonian farmer, was bleeding from a machete wound to his head when his relatives ferried him across the river border to Chad, where he joined thousands of other refugees fleeing violence between farmers and herders.
According to Chadian authorities, the 34-year-old was attacked during a spate of fighting fueled by water disputes in the Far North region, which has driven 48,000 people to seek refuge in Chad so far this month.
“I almost died out in the bush, but luckily my relatives found me and took me across the river,” Abderamane said at a camp on the outskirts of Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
The entire crown of his head was wrapped in a bloodstained bandage.
“We can’t go back there anytime soon because even if the other communities don’t kill us, we’ll die of hunger,” he explained, recalling the destruction of food stores, markets, and fields.
Refugees, mostly women and children, are still attempting to reach Chad by crossing the Chari and Logone rivers in rickety boats.
Friends and relatives greeted exhausted new arrivals to one of the camps with tears and wails of recognition.
According to Chad’s Minister of Territorial Administration Mahamat Bechir Chérif, the number of such refugees has increased by 60% in the last week, putting significant strain on local communities that were already facing food shortages.
The refugees are housed in makeshift camps along the riverbank outside of the capital.
They sleep in the open air because they lack adequate shelter.
In the midday sun, teary-eyed children queue for meals from the local Red Cross.
Chad already hosts nearly one million refugees and internally displaced people, and its resources to meet their needs are critically low, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
The agency, which is responding to the crisis, stated that the situation in the Far North region remained volatile, despite the deployment of security forces in an effort to restore calm.
According to local authorities, at least 22 people have been killed since the clashes began in early December over disputes between Arab Choa herders and Mousgoum and Massa farmers and fishermen.
In August, similar violence killed dozens of people and forced thousands to flee to Chad.