Chad foreign minister says Darfur refugees will not be expelled
February 12, 2008 (LONDON) — A senior Chadian official today denied reports that his government intends to expel new Darfur refugees displaced following a recent army offensive.
Chad’s foreign minister Ahmat Allam-Mi told the daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published in London that statements made by Prime Minister Nouradin Koumakoye ‘is a personal opinion and does not reflect the government’s position”.
On Monday Koumakoye said that the international community needs to remove Sudanese refugees who have fled to Chad to avoid fighting in the Darfur region or Chadian authorities will do it themselves.
“We demand that the international community transfer the population (of Sudanese refugees) from Chad to Sudan to free us,” Koumakoye told reporters in N’Djamena. “We want the international community to look for another country so that the Sudanese can leave. If they cannot do it, we are going to do it,” he added.
“We can’t allow more refugees to come and create problems for us,” Koumakoye said.
“Let the international community, which is so soft on (Sudanese President) Omar Hassan al-Bashir, seek another country to shelter them,” he added
The Sudanese army, in its largest offensive in months, on Friday attacked Abu Surouj, Sirba and Suleia towns, forcing an estimated 200,000 from their homes — 12,000 of whom have fled into neighboring eastern Chad.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said about 12,000 Darfuri refugees had crossed into eastern Chad after Friday’s air and ground attacks.
Chad’s foreign minister justified his boss’s statements by saying that he “was furious which is why he made these remarks”. He further said that the Chadian government did not decide anything on the fate of the Darfur refugees.
“Our government has continued to receive Darfur refugees since the conflict erupted” Allam-Mi added.
This is the second time Chad’s prime minister makes statements that get denied later by other Chadian officials.
Last week Koumakoye accused Libya of backing the failed coup attempt in Chad before President Idriss Deby dismissed the accusation.
After withdrawing from the capital a week ago following battles that killed at least 165 people and injured more than 800, the Chadian rebels moved back towards the Sudan border.
Chad accuses its eastern neighbor Sudan of arming and backing the anti-Deby rebels, a charge denied by Khartoum.
(ST)