By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
KAWA, Chad – Increased banditry, kidnappings of relief workers and attacks on humanitarian compounds in eastern Chad are threatening crucial aid for nearly 100,000 people, many of them refugees or internally displaced persons (IDP).
Some 70 humanitarian organizations in eastern Chad are assisting 256,700 Sudanese refugees from the strife-torn Darfur conflict, 168,000 Chadian IDPs and around 150,000 people in host villages. Six organizations have temporally suspended their operations in eastern Chad due to the insecurity in the Assoungha and the Dar Sila areas, while others have reduced their activities, depriving over 37,000 people of much needed aid.
Crime in eastern Chad has ‘‘escalated in recent weeks including robbery, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping and murder’’, according to a bulletin which was distributed via the department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council. Bandits responsible for the surge in violence had proved ‘‘difficult to interdict, despite the presence of a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the region,” the bulletin added.
The late start to the rainy season and weak rainfalls has exacerbated the situation, with surveys indicating a 30 percent decrease in national agricultural production. Efforts to assess the situation in Assoungha were impeded by the kidnapping of the Red Cross expert, who was in charge of the exercise, and information on the food situation there is still lacking.
“The kidnapping of relief workers is a new element in bandits’ operations in eastern Chad, Darfur and northern CAR (Central African Republic),” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update, citing the recent kidnapping the international Red Cross expert, attacks on two non-governmental organizations (NGO) and the abduction of two French nationals. “This new security challenge [kidnapping] exacerbates the chronic banditry,” it added. “To date at least 96,500 people in needs are at risk of deteriorating living conditions due to the continued suspensions or reduction of operations by several humanitarian organizations.”
In April, the kidnappers gave their name as the Falcons for the Liberation of Africa. The group’s motives have remained shadowy ever since that abduction. It was unclear whether the appeal for a change of policy was genuine or cover for a ransom demand. “There have not been any clear political demands issued by the kidnappers. The motives have always appeared to be economic,” said a humanitarian source, asking not to be named.
Peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) have increased their patrols in the area, offering escorts to those humanitarians who accept and working with them to better respond to their protection needs, reported OCHA reported.
Assoungha remains the area the most affected, with organizations covering food security, health, water, sanitation and education continuing to suspend their activities. In the Dar Sila area, too, several organizations have decided to temporarily suspend activities or relocate international staff to safer areas, maintaining only minimal services.
For more information, please see:
UN News Centre – Aid Lifeline to Scores of Thousands in Eastern Chad Threatened by Banditry, UN Reports – 1 December 2009
AFP – Suspected Darfur Kidnappers Threaten to Kill French Workers – 30 November 2009
The Post.IE – Violence Escalates for Troops in Eastern Chad – 29 November 2009
VOA News – ICRC Worker Kidnapped in Chad – 10 November 2009
