VZCZCXRO0219
RR RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHNJ #1097/01 2431146
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311146Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4301
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0830

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 001097 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, AF/SPG, D, DRL, DS/IP/ITA, 
DS/IP/AF, H, INR, INR/GGI, PRM, USAID/OTI AND USAID/W FOR 
DARFURRMT; LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS; GENEVA FOR 
CAMPBELL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREF CD SU
SUBJECT: UNHCR REVIEWS SECURITY IN EASTERN CHAD 
 
REF: NDJAMENA 1071 
 
1.(SBU) Summary:  The security situation in the eastern 
Chadian town of Guereda remains tenuous.  UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials question whether 
the assurances provided (reftel) by the former Minister of 
Territorial Administration concerning security for 
humanitarian workers in Eastern Chad will be realized now 
that he has been assigned another ministerial position. 
While grateful for U.S. funding for training of additional 
gendarmes, UNHCR officials were disturbed that the 
Government of Chad (GOC) appears unable to identify 
gendarmes to assume the newly-funded posts.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On August 29 the Charge d'Affaires, Political 
Officer, and Regional Security Officer met with David Kapya, 
Deputy Director of Sudan and Chad Special Operations for the 
United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) in 
Geneva; Liz Haoua, Security Officer for UNHCR in Geneva; and 
Serge Male, the Director of UNHCR in Chad.  Kapya, Male, and 
Haoua had just returned from an assessment of security 
conditions affecting refugee programs in the Eastern and 
Southern regions of Chad. 
 
¶3. (U) Kapya thanked the Embassy and the American government 
for its support for UNHCR and its programs and stressed that 
the recent U.S. donation for security assistance came at a 
much-needed time.  He noted that, in response to the 
worsening security situation in the East, the UN has placed 
two senior security officers in the region. Kapya reported 
that the situation in Guereda, recently the scene of an 
armed robbery against an NGO partner, was still tenuous. 
The absence of a local authority was noticeable.  The new 
prefet announced by the Minister of Territorial 
Administration (reftel) as part of a package of measures 
designed to improve the security situation, had not been 
available to meet with the UN delegation (having apparently 
left town for a wedding).   In N'djamena, the newly- 
appointed Minister of Territorial Administration was 
unavailable as he had been called upon to assist with 
resolving an intra-ethnic dispute in Faya-Largeau. 
 
¶4.  (U) Kapya said that the UN had decided to move the 
gendarmes from the refugee camp into the town of Guereda in 
order to have them patrol the perimeter at night.  The 
workers still felt far from safe, but were continuing their 
missions nonetheless.  Regrettably, given the lack of 
resources, moving the gendarmes from the refugee camps left 
the refugee camps unguarded. 
 
¶5. (U) One of the issues that the team addressed during the 
meeting was the lack of gendarmes, and the lack of able- 
bodied people that could be given proper training.  UNHCR's 
objective of training gendarmes (with U.S. funding) to 
provide enhanced security has been stymied by the fact that 
the GOC appears unable to come up with the 100 required 
gendarmes.  UNHCR officials expressed deep frustration with 
this situation.  They reported that they had been told that 
Chad had 15,000 soldiers, 5,000 gendarmes and only 2,500 
police. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The team reported that there was a deep unease in 
the refugee camps.  In the Kokoyo refugee camp they were 
provided a document written in Arabic by the refugees.  The 
refugees said that they had been informed that a July 19 
pact between the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed had 
resulted in an agreement that whoever fought on the side of 
the GOS would be compensated (dead or alive).  Furthermore, 
any disarmament of the Janjaweed would be for show only.  UN 
Officials acknowledged that they had no independent 
verification of this information, and acknowledged that it 
could well be a recruiting tool being used to persuade 
disaffected refugees to continue the fight against the GOS. 
Nonetheless, the UN officials expressed concern at the 
increasingly polarized situation in Darfur. 
 
¶7. (U) Kapya also discussed the Southern region of Chad 
where refugees were well on their way to food self- 
sufficiency.  Kapya expressed hope in being able to 
duplicate a project that he had created in Guinea in which a 
relatively small amount of money (approximately 500,000 
USD), was used to help enable the local population to 
produce enough food through subsistence farming to allow WFP 
food aid to be curtailed.  He expressed hope that donors 
would be willing to fund such a project for C.A.R. refugees 
in Chad. 
 
NDJAMENA 00001097  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) When asked if there was anything the Embassy could do 
to further assist UNHCR, Haoua stated that they needed 
assistance with recovering lost vehicles.  The UN and 
partners had lost over 30 vehicles in the last year.  Some 
had been recovered, but increasingly the cars were not 
found.  Some were reportedly being driven up through Libya 
and sold.  Others were taken over the border and used by 
Chadian and Sudanese rebel groups.  Nonetheless, given the 
small size of the communities in which the UN and its 
partners operated, it was shocking that authorities were 
unable to identify and seize the perpetrators.  The level of 
impunity was a serious issue.  CDA stated that the Embassy 
would continue to support UNHCR and be an advocate for them 
with the host nation, but pointed out that the GOC had 
already admitted that it was unable to combat vehicle 
thefts. 
 
¶9. (U) Kapya stated that he will be drafting a report 
detailing his trip which will include recommendations. 
UNHCR representative to Chad, Serge Male, will provide the 
Embassy with a copy of the report. 
 
COMMENT: 
 
¶10.  The strong assurances made by former Minister of 
Territorial Administration to the UN, partners and donors 
(reftel) concerning a package of measures designed to 
enhance security appears to be - as feared - evanescent. 
The absence of local authorities in Guereda and the 
continuing shifting of Ministerial portfolios in N'djamena 
make it difficult to identify and hold accountable those 
officials who would otherwise be responsible in some measure 
for ensuring the security of humanitarian workers in Eastern 
Chad.  End comment. 
 
TAMLYN