For the second time in two months, Refugees International (RI) is sending a team to check the conditions of people displaced by violence in Darfur. The RI team, made up of Senior Advocate Michelle Brown and McCall-Pierpaoli Fellow Yodit Fitigu, is currently in Chad to ensure that refugees from Darfur are receiving adequate protection and humanitarian assistance from international agencies, and will also look at the impact that the refugee influx has had on local communities.

In 2003, the conflict in Darfur, which shares a long border with Chad, brought a human rights and humanitarian crisis to the entire region. The conflict between rebel groups and government forces and their allied militia, the Janjaweed, has displaced some two million people --- one third the population of Darfur. Despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement and numerous other international agreements, armed groups, especially the militia, continue to attack civilians with impunity. Most of the displaced are living in huge camps in Sudan, but some 200,000 are living as refugees in Chad, where they have sought safety and shelter in one of the poorest regions in all of Africa.

Refugees International plans to talk to refugees, aid organizations, local government officials, UN officials and international donors to ensure that the refugees in Chad are not forgotten. The team plans to carry out the following tasks:

• Assess UN and NGO progress in protecting and delivering aid to refugees in eastern Chad and identify key constraints to meeting needs.
• Identify threats to the refugees’ security, particularly to women and children and assess response.
• Evaluate the level of coordination between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and partner organizations in delivering aid.
• Assess the local communities’ perceptions of the refugees, and determine the levels and types of assistance being provided to local communities.
• Evaluate overall international response to the humanitarian operation in eastern Chad.