Chad: UN refugee agency ‘extremely concerned’ at attacks by janjaweed militia
The United Nations refugee agency today voiced “extreme concern” at continuing attacks by janjaweed militia from Sudan
into eastern Chad and the potential for more displacement of locals in an area where 50,000 people are already estimated
to have been uprooted.
“We urge authorities in Chad and Sudan to reinforce security in border regions to prevent further attacks and
displacement, and call for more international engagement in dealing with the very serious issue of spreading instability
and insecurity,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond told a news briefing in Geneva.
The ongoing insecurity also poses a threat to 213,000 refugees from Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region in a dozen
UNHCR-administered camps in this remote border area, he said. Just this Saturday, armed militiamen stole 350 head of
cattle from a village in the Goz Beida region.
“No casualties were reported, but this is just one recent example of escalating violence which is causing increasing
displacement and sometimes death,” Mr. Redmond said in the latest expression of concern at the spill-over of violence
from Darfur, where three years of fighting between the Government, pro-Government militias like the janjaweed, and
rebels have killed scores of thousands of people and uprooted 2 million more.
The attacks against Chadians by the janjaweed, who have have been accused of committing atrocities in Darfur, appear to
have become more systematic and deadly over the past three months and there is no sign that this pattern will stop, he
added.
Some 50,000 people are estimated to have fled their homes in recent months after dozens of janjaweed attacks. In some
cases, they flee out of fear of impending attacks, and many have been displaced several times. Mr. Redmond cited several
attacks since March, in which large numbers of local inhabitants were reportedly killed, including the massacre of more
than 100 people in one attack alone in April on the village of Djawara.
UNHCR teams have interviewed many of the displaced, who said that on several occasions, they recognized Chadians from
other tribes taking part in attacks together with the Sudanese janjaweed militia, alleging that those Chadians had
concluded agreements with the militia to avoid attacks on their own properties and livestock.
The arrival of additional displaced people in Chadian villages and towns often strains already limited resources,
including water. For example Goz Beida, with 6,000 local inhabitants, hosts 14,000 Sudanese refugees in Djabal camp and
is now trying to cope with an additional 11,000 displaced Chadians. UNHCR has started relocating some of these people to
other villages.