DAKAR (AlertNet) - The withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers from Chad risks restricting the movement of humanitarian workers in the volatile northeast of the country and limiting their access to camps hosting about 500,000 displaced from Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic, aid workers say.
The protection of civilians in the violence-ridden region of the country comes under Chadian responsibility on Thursday as part of the drawdown of the United Nations mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) by year's end.
Chad's President Idriss Deby requested the end of the MINURCAT mission, complaining the force had been slow to deploy and had failed to protect civilians.
Aid groups, however, say MINURCAT's presence has had a restraining effect on the criminals and bandits who usually target them in the east of the country.
"It could be the case that the environment could be more dangerous for humanitarian workers during the transition period when MINURCAT is packing up," said Mons Nyberg, a spokesman for the United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR).
"In practical terms, that could mean the UNHCR and humanitarian organisations have less access to the refugee camps than we have had so far," Nyberg added by telephone from N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.
As part of a resolution adopted by the U.N. on Tuesday, MINURCAT will cut back from its current strength of around 3,300 troops to 1,900 in Chad by July 15, plus 300 in the neighbouring Central African Republic, and begin a final withdrawal from Oct. 15.
ADAPTING TO NEW REALITY
MINURCAT has only been in Chad since 2007 and its military component only since last year. It was set up to protect civilians and secure supplies of food and other aid to refugees in northeastern Chad. Banditry and spillover from the conflicts in Darfur and the Central African Republic, armed opposition to the Chadian government, and inter-communal and inter-ethnic tensions have all contributed to insecurity in the region.
"The humanitarian community would have to adapt to that new situation and work with the security forces of the government in their different forms to try to create security conditions that would allow us to continue our work," the U.N. emergency relief coordinator John Holmes, who visited Chad this week, told AlertNet.
Many international aid agencies operating in Chad choose not to use armed escorts and have often called for more action to secure the area in the long-term. However, they remain concerned by the overall security in the country.
"As a humanitarian community, we would have to dialogue with the Chadian authorities to understand how we'll fit into this new context but what is vital for us regardless of which force is involved is that there is respect for and security of humanitarian space," said Abakar Mahamat Ahmat, the country director of Intermon, the Spanish arm of Oxfam International, in Chad.
The security of refugees and relief workers, particularly those working with the U.N and its local partners who are not authorised to travel without armed escorts, would now be devolved to the U.N.-trained and equipped special unit of the Chadian police force, the Integrated Security Detachment (DIS).
Security analysts say the DIS is more professional than regular Chadian security forces but it requires continued U.N. funding and its operations currently restricted to the east have to be expanded to the south of Chad which also hosts thousands of refugees from the CAR.
Amnesty International said in a statement there are no indications that Chadian authorities and security forces will live up to the responsibility of ensuring the safety of refugees and other vulnerable groups.
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