04/05/2005

Contact: Michelle Brown and Yodit Fitigu,
ri@refugeesinternational.org or 202-828-0110

After an extremely slow start, United Nations agencies and aid organizations have improved their response to the roughly 210,000 refugees from Darfur living in Chad.  Refugees have been relocated from the border and are now living in camps where their basic needs are being met, although water and firewood will always be issues.  The World Food Program seems to have sorted out the food pipeline, and refugees will receive regular distributions, at least through June. Many refugee children are in school, and more schools are under construction.  Refugees say that with the exception of threats from surrounding host communities, they generally feel safe in the camps.  

Despite these positive accomplishments, key challenges remain, particularly in the northern and central camps.  Refugees International did not visit refugee camps in the south, where the situation is somewhat better.  Tensions with host communities are on the increase.  There is a lack of comprehensive UN response in eastern Chad, particularly from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Development Program (UNDP) and UN Population Fund (UNFPA).  Additional sites for refugee camps need to be identified.  There is a lack of aid agencies working with refugees, particularly those with expertise in child protection, gender-based violence and mental health.  National staffs of humanitarian agencies have limited capacity.  In addition, development agencies to assist the local population are few and far between.

There is a steady but small trickle of new refugees arriving from Chadian border towns where they were living with host families or from the places in Sudan where they have been hiding for the past year after their villages of origin were attacked.  Another large-scale influx of refugees seems unlikely.

Although some camps are still too close to the Sudanese border, most refugees live in a fairly stable situation.  The refugees are adamant that it is unsafe for them to return to Darfur; they trust neither the Government of Sudan nor the African Union to protect them.  Aid agencies estimate that refugees from Darfur will be in Chad for at least two years, and agencies are currently making the transition from emergency response to implementing longer term care and maintenance programs and will need funding to carry out these programs.  

One of the largest challenges facing the aid community in eastern Chad is how to best assist refugees in a situation where the host population is just as poor and vulnerable.  Competition for water, grazing land for animals, and firewood has led to increased tensions between the local communities and refugees. The situation was described to RI as “a time bomb waiting to happen.”  According to an aid worker in eastern Chad, “The need to assist local communities is something we are all aware of.  If the locals do not see some benefit to having the refugees here, then refugees will face more problems in the future.  Right now, the local communities see the food trucks come in and give refugees free food when they themselves do not have food.” Agencies admit that they have been slow to develop programs for local communities.  

Eastern Chad is the poorest region in one of the least developed counties in the world.  People living in eastern Chad face chronic food insecurity, lack of water, and an almost total lack of government presence.  The large influx of Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad has greatly aggravated their already bleak conditions. Despite their poverty, many Chadians opened their homes to refugees from Darfur and assisted them when they first crossed the border.  This depleted food stocks of host families.  Their situation has worsened in the past year due to lack of rainfall and poor harvests, and locals have no seeds for the upcoming planting season.  It is critical that seeds, as well as seed protection rations, be distributed as soon as possible to local communities.

Aid agencies are attempting to address the needs of local communities.  Some Chadians are registered as refugees, but agencies are wisely not making an issue of this.  Chadians are able to use camp services, and health clinics in the camps are the only access many of them have to health care.  The UN High Commissioner for Refugees will dedicate five percent of its program budget to assisting local communities, and WFP will begin food for work and school feeding programs.  The UN Children’s Fund will start water programs.  While these interventions are important, there is a clear need for donors to fund more long term, sustainable livelihood programs, which benefit both nomadic and sedentary populations.

Conflicts caused by firewood collection are the most obvious example of worsening tensions between local communities and refugees.  Male and female refugees explained to RI that one of their biggest concerns is that locals will attack women when they are out collecting firewood.  There have been few documented cases of rape, but local men will often harass refugee women and force them to turn over the firewood they have collected.  UNHCR and aid agencies are in the process of arranging for firewood to be included as part of the monthly ration in some camps.  In some cases they have organized groups of women to collect firewood to improve security.  Fuel efficient stoves have been introduced in some camps.  In the two Guereda camps, there are dispute resolution committees composed of refugee and local leaders.  Refugees report that relations with the local community have improved since the committees were formed.  

Another protection concern is the close proximity of two camps, Oure Cassoni and Am Nabak, to the border, although the refugees very clearly want to stay close to home.  Oure Cassoni is particularly problematic.  There are concerns that the Sudanese Liberation Army, an anti-government rebel group, is exerting influence over the camp, although the camp is not obviously militarized.  Unlike most other refugee camps in Chad, water is not an issue for Oure Cassoni.  But water must be trucked into Am Nabak.  Finding suitable sites, far enough away from the border, with access to water has proven to be complicated, but camp relocation should be a priority.  In addition, gaining permission from local authorities has been problematic.  For example, a site with water around Biltin was identified, but local authorities refused to grant UNHCR permission to relocate the refugees in Oure Cassoni.

Besides obvious threats, the overall protection environment remains largely unknown.  Most of the agencies in the camps are working with the refugee population for the first time.  Both the Massalit and Zagawa cultures are difficult to penetrate.  Aid agencies have found it difficult to build trust and understand the cultural dynamics at play.  It is therefore complicated to assess the more hidden problems in the camp—domestic violence, early and forced marriage, rape—in order to develop appropriate responses.  In addition, there seems to be a lack of information sharing between agencies working in Darfur and those implementing similar programs in Chad in order to establish a common approach.  

At present, community services programs are fairly limited, although there are plans to expand.  It is too soon to assess the adequacy or effectiveness of the few programs underway.  Community service workers identify vulnerable groups, but in most camps, there are currently no programs to which to refer them.  Child protection has been identified as a serious gap, and the response to child protection has been incredibly slow.  Currently, Christian Children’s Fund is the only agency running programs specifically for children.  

Mental health has also been identified as a serious gap, particularly given the violence that many refugees experienced in Darfur.  According to refugees that RI interviewed, some members of their families and communities either show signs of withdrawal or aggression.  Refugees reported that in extreme cases people requiring restraint are tied to trees.  Doctors Without Borders has a psychologist on staff, but in most camps psycho-social programs have not yet started.  In addition, humanitarian workers that RI interviewed identified programs for women as a priority need, particularly income generation, gender- based violence sensitization and response and non-formal education programs. In some camps, income generation and literacy programs have started but these programs are not yet widespread. These programs also serve as an important mechanism to decrease women’s vulnerability and can assist survivors of violence in their recovery.

Refugees International, therefore, recommends that:

• Donors increase funding to development groups implementing long-term projects that benefit local communities, as well as nomadic populations.  
• The UN Country Team develop an integrated response to eastern Chad with clear involvement from UNDP, FAO, UNFPA, and UNEP.
• Given FAO’s lack of operational involvement in eastern Chad, WFP be given the lead on coordinating seed distribution to local communities.
• Donors request that agencies with expertise in child protection, gender-based violence, mental health, and environmental protection begin programs in eastern Chad and donors provide funding for such programs.  Programs for youth were identified as a critical need.
• Donors make community services programs a priority by funding UNHCR and implementing partners for needed community service programs, including GBV, income generation, and vocational training for women and youths.  
• The UN and donors work with the Government of Chad to identify alternative sites for the relocation of refugees from Am Nabak and Oure Cassoni camps away from border.
• Donors include in all program budgets funding for capacity building activities for national staff working in NGOs.
• OCHA establish an office in Abeche and coordinate information sharing between Chad and Darfur.
• Donors assume that refugees will be in Chad for the next two years and fund programs based on this longer-term timeframe.