VZCZCXRO3302
RR RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHNJ #0050/01 0191916
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191916Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4799
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 NDJAMENA 000050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FRO AF/C, AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID/DCHA FOR MHESS, WGARVELINK, LROGERS 
DHHA/OFDA FOR KLUU, GGOTTLIEB, AFERRARARA, ACONVERY, AMALEY 
DCHA/FFP FOR WHAMMINK, JDWORKEN, MLOUSTAUNOU 
DCHA/OTI FOR HUBER 
USAID/AFR/WA FOR CGARRET 
STATE/AF/C FOR MASHRAF, S/CRS JAVANCE 
STATE/PRM FOR GPARKER 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
USEUCOM FOR USAID WANDERSON 
NSC FOR TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
KHARTOUM FOR KALMQUIST, KLAUER 
ROME FOR RNEWBUERG, HSPANOS 
NAIROBI FOR JMYER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV PHUM PREF SOCI CD
SUBJECT: EASTERN CHAD: USAID ASSESSMENT OF INTERNALLY 
DIPLACED COMMUNITIES, SITREP I 
 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: The USG humanitarian assessment team in eastern 
Chad is investigating reports of rising numbers of internally 
displaced persons.  On January 17 and 18, the team visited 
two IDP sites and refugee camps in the Farchana area of 
Assounga Departement.  Recent arrivals at the sites are from 
villages near the Chad-Sudan border and report increasing 
attacks on villages by Sudanese janjaweed since last 
November.  While specific figures on internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) are difficult to ascertain, it is well known 
that IDPs and refugees vastly outnumber the host communities. 
 Insecurity in the area has limited humanitarian presence and 
response to the IDP situation to date.  Humanitarian 
assistance is needed; however, agencies note that any 
assistance must be carefully planned to assist everyone and 
mitigate tensions between the host communities and new IDPs 
and refugees.  End Summary. 
 
USG Assessment Team 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  A USG humanitarian assessment team is currently 
investigating reports of increasing numbers of internally 
displaced persons in eastern Chad.  The team is composed of 
representatives of USAID,s Offices of U.S. Foreign Disaster 
Assistance (OFDA), Transition Initiatives (OTI), Food for 
Peace (FFP), as well as of the European Command and of the 
Department of State,s Bureau of Conflict, Reconstruction and 
Stabilization, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Ndjamena.  On 
January 18, the team traveled to Goz Bagar and Goundiang IDP 
sites, approximately 60 kilometers south of Farchana in the 
Assounga Departement.  On January 17, the team also visited 
the Gaga and Farchana refugee camps. 
 
Operating Environment 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  Humanitarian agencies are challenged by a difficult 
operating environment in eastern Chad.  The U.N. Phase IV 
security status precludes a large humanitarian presence in 
the area, and the Government of Chad declared a state of 
emergency in eastern Chad in late November, invoking the 
right to deny travel permits for humanitarians to travel in 
the area.  Despite the presence of armed militias and bandits 
in the area, U.N. agencies and relief organizations have not 
been specifically targeted.  The Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reduced international staff 
in Farchana area by half due to Phase IV security measures. 
UNHCR has taken measures that would allow nearby refugee 
camps to be managed for ten days by the refugees themselves 
in the event of the total evacuation of international staff. 
 
¶4.  Access to the Goz Bagar and Goundiang IDP sites is 
further limited in the rainy season due to fast and high 
running rivers.  Currently, only the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) 
are providing emergency relief supplies and medical care, 
respectively, to recent arrivals at the two sites. Also in 
the area are the camps of Gaga, Farchana, Treguine and 
Bredjing housing more than 77,000 Darfur refugees. There is a 
small humanitarian community overall, and no formal 
coordination structures existing except at the refugee camps. 
 
IDP Numbers 
----------- 
 
¶5.  The number of IDPs in eastern Chad is difficult to 
ascertain and varies depending on the organization that 
provides the information.   UNHCR and the U.N. Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and U.N. 
Children,s Fund (UNICEF) generally agree that the total 
number of IDPs in eastern Chad is approximately 112,000. 
However, ICRC and the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) place the 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
number at around 75,000, claiming that a first wave of IDPs 
that were displaced last year and were recently re-displaced, 
are being double counted.  That is certainly the case 
regarding some of 12,000 IDPs that the team visited in Goz 
Bagar and Goundiang.  Approximately 4,000 IDPs have recently 
been displaced for a second time, having originally moved 
last May to Borota town from nearby villages along the 
Chad-Sudan border.  According to UNHCR, attacks on villages 
began in the spring of 2005 following the withdrawal of 
Chadian military from the area during a rebel advance on 
Abeche.  Displacement and attacks subsided during the rains 
as rivers became impassable.  However, when the rains ceased 
in late September, attacks and displacement dramatically 
increased.  UNHCR noted that non-registered Darfur refugees, 
who had lived nearly three years in communities close to the 
border, have been arriving in Gaga camp in increasing numbers 
since November. 
 
¶6.  Humanitarian agencies note that host communities are not 
much better off than recent arrivals, and certainly the IDPs 
and refugees are overwhelming host populations in terms of 
numbers (for example, at Goundiang there are 800 local and an 
estimated 2,000 new arrivals).  Assistance should be 
carefully considered so as not to introduce inequalities and 
exacerbate tensions between the newly arrived communities. 
The team forecasts a growing number of IDPs, with 
displacement of the majority ethnic group, Massalit, along 
the border south of Adre, unless security improves.  Agencies 
note that as the number of IDPs and refugees increase, 
resources, such as firewood and water, will become 
increasingly stretched.  Specific population data has been 
difficult to obtain up to this point; the team will continue 
to pursue the information. 
 
¶7.  While the majority IDPs in eastern Chad are non-Arabs, 
the assessment team also received reports of a limited number 
of displaced Arab Chadians.  According to UNHCR, 
approximately 500 Tama (Arab) IDPs arrived in the Mabrone 
Sous Prefecture north of Farchana.  This report highlights 
the complexity of the IDP situation in eastern Chad, where 
displacement is caused by a multitude of factors.  The team 
will follow up on this report and provide further information 
in future updates. 
 
Sources of Conflict 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  The assessment team received consistent reports from IDPs 
in this region that they fled their villages along the Sudan 
border in the wake of attacks by Sudanese Janjaweed on camels 
and horses.  Attacks generally occurred in the early morning 
hours and in some cases resulted in deaths.  Reports of 
deaths ranged from 2 to 13 people.  One man said that 
attackers killed his father and brother in front of his eyes. 
 He buried them before fleeing for his own safety.  The key 
government official of the Hadjer Hadid Sous Prefecture, 
Assounga Departement, told the team that assailants burned 
more than eight villages near the border, causing the 
residents of many other villages to move en masse fearing 
attacks.  According to the official, one of the three zones 
of Borota Sous Prefecture, comprising 18 villages, is 
completely empty of Massalit people, the primary target of 
the assailants. The number of villages that have been burned 
is estimated at up to 70. 
 
¶9.  IDPs noted that the absence of Chadian administive 
officials, both military and civil servants, had contributed 
to the insecurity.  A group of IDPs told the team that the 
chief of Bakota Canton (chef de canton) asked the village to 
contribute money to pay for a militia to provide protection. 
The head of the militia group was a Sudanese Arab, not known 
by the Chadians.  The village refused to pay, saying they 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
would not accept to being defended by Sudanese as they were 
Chadian.  Their village and several others were burned days 
later.  The chief of the canton had already fled the area. 
(Note:  This information is noteworthy in that it tracks with 
similar events that occurred in Darfur, particularly in 2004 
when villages would pay Janjaweed not to attack.  If payment 
was not forthcoming, the villages were burned. End note). 
There was a consistent perception that non-Arab tribes were 
being targeted in the attacks and that the goal was to 
 clean the area, of 
 black, people.  IDPs noted that the neighboring villages 
occupied by Ouddai and Mimi (Arab groups) were not attacked 
suggesting an understanding with the Sudanese assailants. 
IDPs in Goz Bagar and Goundiang noted that Chadian Arabs did 
not participate in the attacks. 
 
¶10.  Some humanitarian interlocutors believe that there is 
still a chance for local reconciliation in this particular 
part of eastern Chad because the attacks have come from 
outside the country and Chadian Arabs are not directly 
implicated (unlike in Goz Beida where reports reaching the 
team indicate that Chadian Arabs have been involved in 
attacks against Dajo and Massalit ethnic groups).  However, 
without any local administration in place, there is little 
confidence that any sort of peace could be embarked upon and 
certainly none of the IDPs will venture home without a 
guarantee of security. 
 
Humanitarian Needs 
------------------ 
 
¶11.  The degree of humanitarian needs of the recently 
displaced varies according to the severity of the attack on 
their villages and the degree to which the fleeing families 
were able to transport their valuables with them or to spirit 
their goods out in risky return visits to their villages. 
Some people escaped from villages under attack by armed men 
on horses or camels that razed all that remained.  Other 
villagers left in advance of attacks for precautionary 
reasons, organizing truck or donkey transport to carry sacks 
of food, seed, and household effects.  The USAID team met 
with displaced families from both categories.  While all 
families lost some resources, including access to farmland, 
USAID representatives met families in need of immediate 
humanitarian assistance, as well as others who appeared able 
to cope for several months.  An effort should be made to 
provide support to the vulnerable of both categories to 
mitigate tension over stretched resources. 
 
-Food Security- 
 
¶12.  In the areas of Hadjer Hadid Sous Prefecture visited by 
the team, the food security condition of the newly displaced 
was mixed.  Many households visited had clearly been able to 
carry substantial amounts of food (some huts had up to 9 
sacks of millet weighing 90 kilograms each) and other 
household items, such as cooking pots, with them.  Other 
households stood in stark contrast with no mats and only a 
pot or two, and no food.  These families said they were 
surviving thanks to the generosity of the host population. 
Nearby markets are full of vegetables, meat, and other 
products, but minimal amounts of grain and other basic food 
staples were available.  USAID/OFDA partner Catholic Relief 
Services/Secours Catholique de Development (CRS/SECADEV) 
reports that, despite positive national harvest reports, the 
harvest in this area was below normal due to poor rains. 
Based on a recent U.N. interagency assessment in the area, 
WFP is planning a general food distribution, but most likely 
not until March.  Until then, the IDPs will have to get by 
with their own food stocks and assistance from host 
communities.  Some of the IDPs who arrived before the rains 
in 2006 planted gardens along nearby dry river beds (wadis) 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
which still contain water less than one meter below the 
surface. 
 
¶13.  In looking at possible response options, it will be 
essential to keep in mind the timing of the agricultural 
season.  By May, land for planting must be identified, either 
in host communities or back in the villages of origin, and 
seeds and tools support should be in place.  If this fails, 
IDPs will be dependent on food rations at least until the 
following annual harvest in fall 2008, approximately 18 
months away. 
 
-Water/Sanitation ) 
 
¶14.  Currently, most IDPs fetch water from beneath nearby dry 
riverbeds.  The quality of water undoubtedly is suspect as 
animals and humans commingle in the wadis at least nine 
months of the year.  Currently, there are no latrines in the 
two IDP sites.  ICRC is having two wells dug near Goz Bagar. 
A U.N. interagency assessment team visited the area a day 
before the USG team and reported that only one of the four 
existing water pumps in Goundiang was operational. 
 
¶15.  Unless there is clean water (and sensitization on using 
it), proper sanitation, a steady supply of nutritious and 
varied foods, and reduced exposure to the cold nights, 
children will soon become vulnerable to diarrhea, upper 
respiratory infection, malnutrition, and other illnesses.  If 
not corrected, the situation will become acute as IDP food 
stocks deplete and the annual hunger-gap period begins in the 
summer.  UNICEF champions its low-technology, hand-drilled 
boreholes which private Chadian contractors construct in less 
than one day near wadis.  In locations distant from 
high-water tables, UNICEF funds Oxfam to do mechanized 
borehole drilling with Oxfam,s two rigs.  UNICEF has made an 
emergency appeal of $4.5 million to carry on its program for 
the next three months in locations of the newly displaced. 
 
-Health and Nutrition- 
 
¶16.  MSF is providing a mobile clinic to Goz Bagar three 
times a week and once a week to Goudiang.  The assessment 
team observed MSF in the process of evaluating a tetanus 
patient in Goundiang.  A full briefing by MSF was not 
possible during the day,s visit.  A brief conversation with 
MSF, however, revealed the usual list of illnesses, including 
upper respiratory infection and diarrhea. MSF works at the 
referral hospital in Adre and also has a health clinic in 
Hadjar Hadid. In the summer, malaria will be a severe problem 
due to the plethora of wadis in the area.  ICRC is building a 
permanent health center at Goz Bagar that will serve both the 
local and IDP population. 
 
¶17.  According to WFP and UNICEF, global acute malnutrition 
rates in eastern Chad were not above emergency threshold 
levels prior to the upsurge in displacement.  However, no 
agency has surveyed recent arrivals in Goz Bagar or Goundiang 
in order to obtain a baseline or to monitor the impact of 
displacement on nutrition levels.  MSF is planning to conduct 
a nutritional survey at nearby refugee camps and host 
communities. MSF should be encouraged to survey arriving IDPs 
as well.  As food stocks deplete and IDP numbers increase as 
forecasted, a nutrition problem is foreseen.  Preparations 
should begin now to build capacity and awareness of the need 
for community-based therapeutic care and hygiene promotion 
programs. 
 
-Relief Commodities- 
 
¶18.  In IDP areas along the border in Assounga and Dar Sila 
departements, ICRC is distributing non-food items (NFIs) for 
approximately 40,000 displaced persons.  The NFI family kits 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
include two blankets, one piece of plastic sheeting, two 
mats, two water buckets, and soap.  The Government of Chad is 
reportedly distributing some emergency items through the IDP 
fund established by the Ministry of Solidarity but has not 
been coordinating with the humanitarian community on 
targeting the assistance.  Blankets are particularly in 
demand to protect families from the cold nights.  Still, all 
humanitarian agencies have told the USAID team that more 
items are required now and are also needed to meet future 
needs given the current fluid situation. 
 
IDP Protection Issues 
--------------------- 
 
¶19.  The story that emerges from Massalit IDPs who fled from 
Borota Sous Prefecture is that they will not be returning 
soon due to lack of security on the border.  IDPs reported 
that tensions and insecurity had been building in Borota for 
months before their displacement.  Although the Janjaweed had 
harassed the IDPs in November firing shots in the air and 
stealing livestock, they stayed in their villages.  The 
recent attacks resulted in deaths, convincing many people to 
leave. 
 
¶20.  The team came away convinced that unless the security 
situation on the border south of Adre changes sufficiently, 
more displacement along the border and further inland may be 
ahead.  No Chadian military are present to deter further 
attacks.  A government official in Goz Bagar worried that the 
newly displaced, as well as villagers in his area, might be 
displaced again as an attack recently occurred only 30 
kilometers away. A similar sentiment was echoed by a Chadian 
official in Farchana. The team's bottom line assessment is 
that the IDPs seen today, due to the fear they expressed and 
the amount of personal goods some of them transported, are 
here for a while. 
 
¶21.  Also of concern is the vulnerability of children to 
recruitment as soldiers by armed groups. The UN is anxious to 
develop activities for children so as to discourage this 
likelihood, although there is already evidence produced by 
groups like Human Rights Watch that indicate this is already 
happening.  U.N. staff in the area have observed young 
children carrying weapons. 
 
¶22.  ICRC and the Chef de Canton of Goz Bagar worried about 
potential problems that could emerge between host villages 
and the IDPs. IDPs are currently settled on private 
agricultural land and the government wants to move them to 
another site. Finding a site with water is a challenge and so 
far one has not been identified. Agriculture land and access 
to water and health services are issues that should be 
anticipated. 
 
¶23.  UNHCR was planning an Age Gender Development Mainstream 
(AGDR) survey to the area visited today last December. 
However, the survey was not conducted due to the withdrawal 
of international staff and Phase IV security measures. 
 
Coordination 
------------ 
 
¶24.  Currently little coordination of assistance to IDPs 
exists in the Assounga Department.  UNHCR, the lead agency 
for IDPs, told the team that U.N. agencies will institute the 
cluster coordination system to address the IDP emergency in 
eastern Chad.  UNHCR noted that lead cluster agencies will 
work to attract relief organizations to address the sectoral 
needs of IDPs. 
 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
NDJAMENA 00000050  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶25.  The findings detailed above constitute the first part of 
a two-week humanitarian assessment mission, with the team 
traveling to several additional locations in the coming days. 
 The team anticipates that the complex and differing nature 
of the displacements in the geographic locations may lead to 
different response options.  More concrete recommendations 
for the USG response to the situation will be forthcoming 
upon the completion of the mission. 
WALL