On February 24, Refugees International returns to the volatile region west of Darfur to monitor conditions among refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Chad and the Central African Republic. This follows missions to eastern and southern Chad in March 2006 and to southern Chad and the CAR in November 2006. Advocate Rick Neal will visit Chad from February 25 to March 4, and then join Vice-President for Policy Joel Charny in the CAR from March 4 to 17.

The situation in these two countries, already worrisome due to chronic underdevelopment and weak state security, has deteriorated sharply over the past two years due to internal strife and expansion of the violence in Darfur. Internal displacement in eastern Chad has soared over the past year from 30,000 to more than 100,000 while humanitarian access has diminished due to security concerns. As the humanitarian community struggles to respond to the needs of 230,000 refugees from Darfur as well as Chadian IDPs, resolving the internal conflict in Chad and mitigating the effects of the crisis in Darfur are distant prospects.

Largely unnoticed until recently, the situation in the CAR has also deteriorated over the past year. Rebel activity, banditry, and governmental counterinsurgency tactics have displaced tens of thousands in the northwest; thousands more may be displaced in the northeast following rebel incursions there. People throughout the north suffer from a crisis of underdevelopment, now exacerbated by displacement and abuse. Humanitarian agencies have begun to mobilize as the risk for an expanded crisis grows.

The border of both countries with Darfur is the focus of debate regarding the deployment of a United Nations presence to protect civilians and deter cross-border attacks. As the crisis in Darfur appears to have reached a stalemate, taking steps to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Chad and the CAR is essential. However, additional engagement beyond border forces will be necessary to facilitate the political processes required in both Chad and the CAR to resolve local grievances and widen political participation.

The impact of the violence in Chad and the CAR on civilians has been heavy. Internally displaced people in Chad crowd along the edges of camps sheltering refugees from Darfur, hoping to benefit from the assistance the refugees receive. Water and sanitation is a particular concern, as is the protection of women, targeted for rape and sexual abuse. In the CAR, the displaced in the northwest are hiding in forested areas, too frightened of government forces to ask for help; in the northeast, access is so tenuous that few details of IDP conditions are available.

To learn more about the needs of internally displaced people and what can be done to reduce attacks on civilians, Refugees International will visit IDP camps in eastern Chad, preferably around Goz Beida in the southeast; alternative sites include Farchana and Guéréda. In the CAR, the RI team hopes to travel to Birao in the northeast along a rarely used and perhaps impassable road, and then to conduct a follow-up visit to sites around Paoua in the northwest.

The team returns to the United States on March 18 to begin its advocacy with the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Congress to improve conditions among the displaced and help stem the current crisis.