Chad: Improvements in security allow for the return of some IDPs

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^{31 December 2010}

At the end of 2010, 171,000 people were still internally displaced in eastern Chad, four years after being forced to flee because of armed conflict, inter-ethnic violence over land and natural resources, and attacks by bandits. This number had fallen slightly from a 2007 high of 185,000, or about one fifth of the population of eastern Chad.

While the causes of internal displacement had largely ended and no new internal displacement was reported during the year, ongoing insecurity from attacks by criminal gangs and the lack of basic services in areas of return continued to stand in the way of durable solutions for most IDPs. Only 43,000 IDPs were able to return to their villages of origin in 2009 and 2010. The government estimated that another 30,000 were ready to return, but many of the IDPs maintained that conditions were not in place to make their returns sustainable.

In 2010, most IDPs were still living in 38 camps; the majority had little or no means of sustaining themselves and they suffered from the lack of livelihood opportunities, particularly as they had no access to farming land. At the camps the IDPs were able to access some level of international protection and assistance.

The insecurity they faced was increased by the widespread circulation of small arms. Violence against women and girls, including sexual violence, domestic violence, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation were also reported in 2010, and the violence was being perpetrated by members of their own communities, inside IDP camps. There was a lack of any effective referral system for survivors of sexual violence, to enable them to access justice as well as psycho-social care.

Displaced children also faced a range of violations of their rights. Government armed forces continued to recruit displaced children, despite a 2007 agreement with UNICEF to demobilise children from the army and integrated rebel groups. In IDP camps they had limited access to primary education and no chance of further schooling.

In 2010, a worsening food and malnutrition crisis compounded these problems. Two million Chadians, including IDPs, faced severe food shortages. A serious drought reduced agricultural production by 34 per cent and caused the loss of 780,000 cattle. The drought was followed by the heaviest rains to hit Chad in 40 years, which affected close to 150,000 people including 70,000 whose homes were destroyed by floods. The destruction of roads and bridges made the delivery of food and medicines extremely difficult, and despite the efforts of relief agencies, high rates of malnutrition resulted among children under the age of five and a cholera epidemic broke out.
In early 2010, President Déby called for the withdrawal of all UN peacekeeping troops of the MINURCAT force from Chad. The president argued that MINURCAT had been slow to deploy and had failed to protect civilians or build promised infrastructure projects. The UNSC approved the request and the withdrawal of troops was completed by the end of the year. While the Security Council acknowledged the government’s commitment to take full responsibility for the protection of civilians, other UN officials warned that Chad’s security forces lacked the training, leadership and technical capacity to ensure security and called for continued international support.

In 2007 the government established a national committee to assist IDPs and in 2008 a national mechanism to coordinate humanitarian activities with international peacekeeping troops. However the impact of these bodies has been limited as neither has had the staff and resources, or the permanent presence in areas of displacement, that would allow them to provide assistance and facilitate durable solutions for IDPs.

In 2010 the government undertook a number of initiatives which could have a positive impact on the protection of IDPs, including the improvement of relations between Chad and Sudan marked by the deployment of a joint border security force, the signing of the N’Djamena Declaration to end the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups, and the ratification of the Kampala Convention. However, the government had yet to enact national legislation to protect IDPs and to respond to violence against internally displaced women.

The UN’s humanitarian response was led by a Resident Coordinator / Humanitarian Coordinator. More than 70 international organisations provided assistance to displaced communities including IDPs and refugees from Darfur. The cluster system was introduced in 2007 and 13 clusters were operational by 2010, including the protection cluster led by UNHCR. By year’s end, 69 per cent of the $544 million request-ed in the 2010 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) had been funded. The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated $15 million to the 2010 CAP to respond to the food and malnutrition crisis.

1 July 2011: Prospects of greater security for internally displaced children and adults

On 14 June, the Government of Chad signed an action plan to end the use of children by the country’s security forces. The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict praised Chad’s commitment to ending one of the grave violations being committed against children in the country, including internally displaced children, but warned that the bulk of the work of protecting children lies ahead. An Amnesty International report found that the failure or lack of demobilisation programmes for children associated with armed groups and forces leaves them vulnerable to re-recruitment even after they return home, and that the lack of schools or jobs fails to offer alternative opportunities.

Meanwhile, improvements in security stand to have a positive impact on displaced communities in eastern Chad, some of whom have begun a process of voluntary return to their villages of origin. In mid-June, soon after the governments of CAR, Chad and Sudan agreed to establish joint forces to combat cross-border criminal activities, the rebel Chadian Popular Front for Reconstruction (FPR) signed a peace agreement with the government. The FDR had set up their base in the Central African Republic (CAR) three years ago, where they were accused of robbery and held responsible for causing internal displacement of the local population.

As of June 2011, there were 131,000 IDPs living in 38 IDP camps in eastern Chad. The majority of them had limited access to livelihoods and continued to rely on protection and assistance from international humanitarian organisations. No new internal displacements were reported in 2010 or in the first five months of 2011.

After the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping troops in December 2010, the Chadian government took responsibility for the protection of civilians in conflict-affected areas. It normalised relations with the government of Sudan and established with Sudan a joint military force to patrol and monitor their shared border. The joint border force has been credited with improving security in some areas. (...)

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^{22 June 2011}