Race against time to help refugees

THE UN refugee agency is facing a race against time to help more than 100,000 impoverished Sudanese refugees who have spilled across the border into Chad to escape increasing violence in their homeland.

"Logistically speaking this mission is a major challenge. Water is the main problem in this arid region," Yvan Sturm, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) co-ordinator for eastern Chad, said.

"We have to sink wells to reach the water table. For 100,000 refugees we will have to spend about two million dollars just on the wells," said Sturm, who is based in the Chadian town of Abeche.