Darfur refugees denounce Chadian rebellion
February 4, 2008 (GOZ BEIDA) — Darfur’s refugees came to Chad seeking safety and security but as armed rebels sweep across the country, according to Chad’s government with the backing of Sudan, some refugees say they fear Sudan is reaching out to touch them there too.
“The Chadian rebels are armed by the Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir. They too want to kill all the blacks of Darfur,” said Khaltoum, a 16 year-old refugee in a refugee camp in Goz Beida, a town in southeastern Chad, who fled to Chad four years ago after she was kidnapped and gang-raped by a militia in Sudan.
Another refugee Hassan, 19, at the Djabal camp, also close to Goz Beida, echoed a wish expressed by many of the 250,000 refugees spread out among 12 camps in the remote region – that a European Union force (EUFOR) that was supposed to deploy in Chad by mid-February to protect refugees was already in place.
“The camps are often subjected to acts of banditry – we need outsiders because Africans will not protect us,” he said. “A change of regime in N’djamena will directly affect us.”
The EUFOR force deployment was postponed by the European Union on 4 February because of uncertainty after a weekend of rebel attacks that sent thousands of people fleeing to Cameroon.
But also on 4 February, the UN Security Council passed a resolution strongly condemning the rebel attack on Chad and authorising France and other countries to help Chad repel the rebels.
Blame
The Security Council’s resolution was passed after Chad made a formal appeal to the Security Council for assistance. Chad has repeatedly blamed Sudan for backing the rebels, both since this crisis started and in previous attacks by rebels since 2005, including one in April 2006 that also reached the capital N’djamena. Sudan has consistently denied the charge and accused Chad of backing rebels opposed to it.
The Council urged “all states in the region” to abide by three agreements in 2006 and 2007 to respect and secure their borders. The initial text reportedly urged “Chad and the Sudan” to abide by their obligations, but the names were dropped in the final version.
Ibrahim Moustapha Seyid, the Sultan of Darsila, a traditional leader in Chad’s southeastern region, said stopping the rebellion is key to securing peace in Chad and Sudan
“The resolution of the conflict in Darfur depends before everything on the stability of Chad because each side uses the territory of the other as a sanctuary,” he said.
The Sultan blamed the “Janjaweed” – an Arabic word that is used to describe Arab militias in Sudan – for the violence that has also forced 180,000 Chadians to flee their homes since 2005.
“Without the interference of these antagonists [from Sudan], we would never have seen the horrors that have been perpetrated here, and if they had happened the perpetrators would never have had impunity as they do now,” the Sultan said.
“How can we let these rebels, which count in their ranks Janjaweed, to take power in N’djamena?” bluntly asked Abdoulaye Idriss Zayé, a 20 year old Chadian who was blinded last year when a group of raiders – he says Janjaweed from Sudan – gouged out both his eyes while attacking his village.
Aid operations
Non-essential UN staff and international workers from some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been evacuated from Abéché where the managerial staff of the more than 50 aid agencies working with refugees and displaced people in eastern Chad sit, but operational staff are still working at most field offices and refugee camps.
Humanitarian workers in Chad told IRIN that except in the areas of the refugee camps at Farchana, Guereda and Iriba in the northeast, which are considered to be at high risk of clashes between rebels and the army as they are close to the rebel border crossing, looting is considered the biggest risk in other towns if aid staff are evacuated.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a statement on 4 February that insecurity in Chad threatens its food distributions to refugee camps in the east, and also the pre-positioning of food which is essential for Darfur refugees to survive through the three month rainy season which starts in June and floods much of the eastern region.
The NGOs Oxfam and Save the Children have also released statements warning their operations for refugees and displaced people are at risk because of the insecurity in N’djamena and the region.
On 4 February there was a heavy military presence in the centre of Goz Beida and some MSF operations in the Djabal, Koukou-Angarana and Goz Amer refugee camps near Goz Beida were suspended, Médecins Sans Frontières staff in Goz Beida told IRIN.
(IRIN)