Field Update: UNHCR in Eastern Chad
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, is battling many challenges to help hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by conflict in Darfur, Sudan. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, visited eastern Chad in December 2006 and West Darfur in April 2007, while United Nations Messenger of Peace George Clooney visited refugee camps in eastern Chad in 2008 and February 2009. Learn more out UNHCR’s work.
Twelve UNHCR-run camps in eastern Chad house over 250,000 Darfuri refugees. UNHCR has been operating in Darfur since June 2004, when it opened offices in El Geneina – the capital of West Darfur – and in the South Darfur town of Nyala. The agency also has offices in the West Darfur towns of Habila, Mornei, Mukjar, and Zalingei.
The agency is coordinating the humanitarian effort in West Darfur, and maintains a regular presence in the many camps and settlements for internally displaced Darfuris. It hopes to strengthen this work in West Darfur, but security has worsened and movement around the region is becoming more and more difficult. As a result of Sudanese President Omar al-Bahir’s decision to expel 13 international aid organizations from the region, in the wake of International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant, conditions on the ground could continue to deteriorate
In the eastern Chad camps, UNHCR programs provide everything from family shelters to latrines, clinics, schools, wells and other vital infrastructure. But it is an enormous logistical challenge to get items such as tents, blankets, plastic sheeting, and soap to the refugees in the landlocked country.
The deteriorating security situation has periodically affected UNHCR operations and caused disruption in camps. Refugees feel trapped between the conflict in Darfur, where they cannot return, and heightened tension within eastern Chad.
As of March 2008, UNHCR Chad has offices in the eastern towns of Abéché, Bahai, Iriba, Guereda, Farchana, Goz Beida, and Koukou-Angarana. View our interactive google map to locate the UNHCR refugee camps.
