Armed groups seize Sudan refugees in Chad camps – UN

Mar 31, 2006 (GENEVA) — Armed groups seized several hundred Sudanese refugees from camps in eastern Chad for military training in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan, the United Nations said on Friday.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemned the recruitment of boys and men which took place over the March 17-19 weekend at the Treguine, Breidjing and Farchana camps.

“Forced recruitment of refugees, especially of minors, who came to Chad to seek asylum is totally unacceptable,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a news briefing.

Males between the ages of 15 and 35 were targeted, he said. Most were taken by force but some went voluntarily.

“Some of the refugees who were recruited have since returned to the camps and told our teams that they had been brought to training bases across the border in Darfur,” Redmond said.

It is not yet clear who had carried out the recruiting operation, Redmond said.

More than 200,000 refugees from the conflict between rebel groups, the Sudanese armed forces and government-backed militias in western Darfur live in 12 UNHCR-run camps in eastern Chad.

The Geneva-based agency has warned repeatedly of growing insecurity on both sides of Chad’s border with Sudan.

While there have been no reports of recruitment from the camps after March 19, UNHCR said some young refugees afraid of being taken are believed to be hiding in villages near the camps.

(Reuters)