Chad: IDPs in east facing continuing violence and hardship

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^{31 December 2008}

At the end of 2008 around 180,000 people were displaced in eastern Chad, either being supported by host communities or gathered in 30 sites where they could access some level of international aid. They had fled cross-border raids in 2006 and 2007 by Sudanese Janjaweed militias, who exploited longstanding disputes between Chadian ethnic groups sparking inter-ethnic violence that led to massacres and caused widespread displacement.

Other causes of displacement involved fighting between the army and Chadian rebel groups, and attacks by road bandits. Internal armed conflict erupted when Chadian president Idriss Déby reformed the constitution to run for a third term. Rebel groups accused the government of limiting government posts to members of the President’s Zaghawa ethnic group, and of using oil revenues to buy arms and bolster the government. Meanwhile, the Chadian government has allowed Darfuri rebel groups (also Zaghawa) to operate from bases in eastern Chad.

Widespread attacks by road bandits known as “coupeurs de route” against civilians including IDPs and humanitarian workers have gone unpunished. In 2008, more than 3,000 European Union troops (EUFOR) were deployed to eastern Chad to protect IDPs and Sudanese refugees, safeguard humanitarian operations, and help restore stability. The UN Mission, MINURCAT, also trained Chadian police officers to provide security in IDP sites and refugee camps. Nonetheless, insecurity remained rampant, with more than 160 serious incidents including physical attacks against humanitarian workers resulting in repeated interruptions in the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

IDPs have faced grave threats to their physical security and integrity, due to attacks, the militarisation of IDP sites and proliferation of small arms there. Displaced women and girls have faced high levels of sexual violence, and are particularly at risk when collecting firewood or farming land which they have rented from host communities. Displaced children have faced a range of threats. In IDP sites they have had limited access to primary education and no chance of further schooling.Government forces have continued to recruit children despite a 2007 commitment to desist, while Sudanese and Chadian rebel groups have actively recruited children from refugee camps and IDP sites.

National and international responses have been shaped by fear of the Darfur conflict spreading rather than a will to solve Chad’s internal problems. Although the governments of Chad and Sudan signed the Dakar Agreement in 2008 to normalise relations and end the support of each other’s rebel groups, there has been no parallel process for Chad’s internal crisis. Peacekeeping missions have focused on resolving cross-border insecurity rather than conflict resolution and peace building in Chad. At the same time the situation of Sudanese refugees there has received more attention and thus funding.

Despite EUFOR’s mandate to help secure areas of origin, insecurity has continued to block returns. In 2008 some IDPs did still return despite a lack of access to basic services in their home areas. For these movements to become more widespread, an inclusive political dialogue would be needed to end the internal armed conflict and inter-communal violence, and the government would have to demonstrate its commitment to invest in infrastructure and basic social services in the east.

The government has taken some steps to respond to the situation of IDPs, but their impact has been limited. In 2007, it set up a national committee to assist IDPs known as the CNAPD, but it has limited resources and staff, and delivered only sporadic assistance. In 2008, the government also created the CONAFIT committee to coordinate humanitarian activities with MINURCAT, EUFOR and the humanitarian organisations working in Chad. The government has yet to enact national legislation to protect IDPs.

The UN’s humanitarian response in Chad is led by a Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator supported by a Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in eastern Chad. The cluster approach was introduced in Chad in July 2007 to coordinate the delivery of assistance and improve the protection of IDPs. Eleven clusters were operational at the end of 2008, with the environmental and early recovery clusters to be implemented in 2009.

21 January 2010: Call for exit of UN peacekeepers threatens security of displaced communities

Aid organisations in Chad have expressed concern over the possible impact on security after the government said it wants the UN to withdraw its peacekeeping forces when their mandate ends on 15 March. They warn that continuing humanitarian work will be very difficult if the government is unable to ensure a secure environment after the withdrawal of international troops. Displaced communities and aid workers are already regularly subjected to robberies, kidnappings and carjackings by armed groups.

Meanwhile, the governments of Chad and Sudan have agreed to set up a joint force to monitor and secure their common border, to be deployed on 20 February. This decision is part of a renewed effort to normalise relations between the two countries which includes commitments to end the support of each other’s armed opposition groups.

Aid workers in eastern Chad told IRIN that their principal concern is the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers – whatever entity provides it. According to Oxfam International: “Our predominant concern is the safety and well being of refugees, IDPs and Chadian communities […] which includes access to humanitarian assistance.”

Around 168,000 people were internally displaced in eastern Chad in September 2009, as a result of conflict and human rights abuses related to tensions between Chad and Sudan, internal armed conflict, and inter-ethnic attacks against civilians. This number had fallen slightly from a 2008 high of 185,000, about one fifth of the population of eastern Chad. A profiling report showed in 2008 that 95 per cent of these internally displaced people (IDPs) were located in the Department of Dar Sila, and that almost 60 per cent were women between the ages of 15 and 40.

Despite the presence of United Nations and European Union peacekeepers, and repeated attempts to resolve internal and international conflicts, the causes of displacement have not ended, and widespread attacks by criminal gangs on civilians including IDPs and humanitarians have made eastern Chad extremely insecure. (...)

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^{21 December 2009}