Washington, DC -- The Government of Chad should allow the current UN peacekeeping mission, MINURCAT, to remain in Chad and Central African Republic with existing troop levels through 2010, said Refugees International today. Although Chadian President Idriss Déby recently announced that MINURCAT’s mandate should not be renewed, RI urged the UN Security Council to work with the Government of Chad in order to renew the mandate. The UN Security Council is scheduled to have consultations on MINURCAT tomorrow.

“A premature withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces from Chad will be devastating to civilians,” said Erin Weir, Senior Peacekeeping Advocate at Refugees International. “If the force withdraws from eastern Chad now, hundreds of thousands of displaced people will be at risk of banditry and attacks. Now is precisely the wrong time to shut it down.”

The UN Security Council mandated MINURCAT in 2008 to protect more than 250,000 Sudanese refugees and 170,000 internally displaced people in eastern Chad. Refugees and internally displaced people have told RI that the deployment of MINURCAT peacekeepers has improved their security and made them feel safer. MINURCAT, which is currently deployed at 70 percent, is scheduled to reach full deployment in April. This will allow the troops to undertake greater numbers of patrols and provide even greater improvements in security. Furthermore, humanitarian agencies providing lifesaving assistance to refugees and the internally displaced will face an increase in attacks, which may force them to stop their programs.

In addition to patrolling and providing security for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, MINURCAT is playing a critical role in training the Chadian police, the Détachement Intégré de Sécurité (DIS). This policing component is integral to providing security to refugees and internally displaced people.

“The DIS got off to a slow start, but there have been significant improvements in their operations,” said Weir. “Ultimately, displaced people feel safer as a result of their patrols and their presence inside the camps. But without continuing financial and technical support from MINURCAT, this police force will most likely disappear.”

The Government of Chad has stated that its armed forces will step in and fill the void when MINURCAT departs. The government indeed has the primary responsibility to protect its own citizens and the refugees within its borders. However, Chadian forces have been unable to prevent attacks in the past, and have sometimes been complicit in attacks against the very civilians that they are meant to be protecting. Furthermore, MINURCAT’s efforts to support and train justice sector personnel and institutions, as well as Chadian police are as yet incomplete, and would be wasted if MINURCAT were to be withdrawn now.

###