VZCZCXRO5057
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN
DE RUEHNJ #0934/01 3400815
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060815Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5940
INFO RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 1450
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 1633
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0062

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000934 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS, SENSITIVE 
 
AF/C FOR DAS SWAN, PRM/AFR:MLANGE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF CD CT
SUBJECT: CENTRAL AFRICAN REFUGEES IN SOUTHERN CHAD 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) is pursuing a strategy of self-sufficiency for Central 
African refugees in southern Chad but is finding it challenging to 
do so due to lack of resources and the difficulty of timing a 
reduction in assistance with the refugees' ability to maintain 
decent livelihoods.  Meanwhile, authorities from the Central African 
Republic (CAR) have encouraged the refugees to consider returning 
home - despite ongoing insecurity in that country.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
 
¶2. (U) From 8 - 11 November, PRM Program Officer Geoffrey Parker 
visited implementing partners UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, Africare, Mentor 
Initiative, and CARE in the southern town of Gore, where roughly 
two-thirds of the 48,000 Central African Republic (CAR) refugees in 
Chad are residing in three nearby camps.  A fourth camp and the 
remaining refugees are located along the border to the East, near 
the town of Danamadji. The number of refugees has gone up slightly 
in 2007 as approximately 3,000 new arrivals have been registered so 
far this year.  These most recent arrivals have largely been Peulh 
nomads who are targeted by bandits for their cattle. 
 
¶3. (U) Since the first refugees arrived in late 2002, their 
situation in Chad has suffered from a lack of international 
visibility.  The displacement within and out of the Central African 
Republic made Western newspapers only recently, mainly due to French 
military support to CAR President Bozize's regime against rebel 
assaults in northeastern CAR in November/December 2006 and March 
¶2007.  The CAR refugees have also been overshadowed by the much 
larger refugee situation along Chad's eastern border with Darfur, 
Sudan. 
 
¶4. (U) The situation in northwestern CAR, where most the refugees 
are from, remains volatile.  During the first half of 2007, 
villagers in the North suffered greatly at the hands of the Central 
African Armed Forces (FACA) and the Presidential Guard (GP), who 
conducted massive reprisals on civilians (extrajudicial executions, 
burning of villages, etc.) for alleged complicity with the rebel 
group Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD).  Human 
rights reporting coming out of CAR eventually led to increased 
international scrutiny, and the latter half of 2007 has seen far 
fewer atrocities committed by either side.  However, lawlessness and 
impunity still abound across the entire northern CAR.  Bandit 
activity has not abated and skirmishes between the APRD and FACA are 
not uncommon.  Many civilians are forced to stay constantly mobile 
to prevent attracting unwanted attention. 
 
Towards Self-Sufficiency 
 
¶5. (U) The strategy pursued by UNHCR for the CAR refugees in Chad is 
one of self-sufficiency and - compared to the eastern Chad refugee 
situation - there is strong potential for it to succeed.  Many of 
the refugees have access to primary and secondary education, health 
care, markets, and land.  PRM funding is contributing to the ability 
of refugees not only to reduce their dependency on outside 
assistance, but to mitigate the negative impacts of their presence 
on the local population and environment. 
 
¶6. (U) In pursuing this strategy of self-sufficiency, the challenge 
will be to balance the draw down of services for refugees with their 
ability to maintain consistent and productive livelihoods.  This 
will be reflected most elementally in the refugees' ability to feed 
themselves, be it through their own production of food or by earning 
enough money to buy it.  Beyond this, refugees should eventually be 
able to pay - at least to some percentage - medical and school fees 
that Chadians pay as part of the national health and education 
systems.  Naturally, this is a slow process that will require a 
seamless transition from humanitarian to development assistance. 
Currently, the European Commission delegation in N'Djamena is 
planning 4 million euros in projects to that end for southern Chad. 
PRM will continue to support UNHCR and other humanitarian partners, 
but there is currently no USG development presence in Chad that 
could assist the transition. 
 
¶7. (U) However, for all its potential to succeed, the southern Chad 
refugee situation suffers from a severe lack of international 
attention and, consequently, financial resources.  Coordinating the 
progression from dependency to self-sufficiency has proven extremely 
challenging.  The most notable example is in the agriculture sector, 
where programs have been successful but simply not large enough to 
balance a decision by the World Food Program to lower food rations 
in the camps in 2007.  Seeds, tools, and land were not available in 
sufficient quantity to make any significant impact on food security. 
 Neither was support for income generating activities that could 
allow refugees to earn money for buying food.  The result has been 
that the refugees' lives in 2007 centered mainly on the quest for 
food, preventing their participation in educational, professional, 
and recreational activities. 
 
 
NDJAMENA 00000934  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8. (U) UNHCR, WFP, and the NGO community in Gore are cognizant of 
the situation and aim to rectify it.  A joint donor/UNHCR/WFP 
assessment mission in October decided to slightly raise rations in 
Amboko Camp, which had been most severely affected by the cut.  The 
mission also recommended finding support for school feeding programs 
as the main reason for the abysmal school attendance rate among 
refugees was consistently cited as "hunger."  The humanitarian 
community has the right programs in mind, but will require far 
greater resources in the short- to medium-term (1-3 years) to ensure 
the refugee community is able to sustain itself with minimal 
international assistance in the long-term. 
 
CAR Visit on Repatriation - PRM Visit on Resettlement 
 
¶9. (U) On 13 and 17 November, the CAR Ministers of Social Affairs 
and Interior visited the CAR refugees in the camps near Gore and 
Danamadji, respectively.  At each site thousands of refugees turned 
out to greet the delegation with dances, songs, and gifts.  The 
message from the ministers was clear: President Bozize wants to see 
CAR's sons and daughters to return home.  The Minister of Social 
Affairs in particular painted a rather rosy picture of the prospects 
for returns in the very near future.  Specific reasons she cited 
were the peace accords with the UFDR rebels in NE CAR, President 
Bozize's June visit to Markounda (NE CAR) to "extend a hand" to the 
APRD rebels, the demobilization of child soldiers in Birao, the 
prospective arrival of EUFOR to maintain the peace in northern CAR, 
and a $300 million agreement with the World Bank to build roads. 
 
 
¶10. (U) Coinciding with the CAR ministerial visit in Gore was that 
of PRM Refugee Coordinator for Admissions Emily Mestetky to examine 
the possibilities and requirements for a resettlement of CAR 
refugees to the United States in 2008.  There she explained U.S. 
standards for refugee referrals, discussed specific types of 
vulnerabilities that might qualify a refugee for resettlement, and 
conducted preliminary site surveys for potential Overseas Processing 
Entity processing sites.  UNHCR's goal for resettlement of CAR 
refugees in 2008 is roughly 350, and the office in Gore feels 
confident it will achieve that number. 
 
Comment 
 
¶11. (SBU) UNHCR in both Chad and CAR were surprised by the CAR 
government's sudden desire to push for the recent ministerial visit. 
 Several humanitarian and political observers Parker met while in 
Bangui (16 - 24 November) felt the CAR government was feeling 
pressure to show a greater interest in the welfare and security of 
northern CAR - particularly after a scathing September 2007 Human 
Rights Watch (HRW) report on FACA and GP abuses on civilians.  The 
government even invited HRW to attend a recent international donor 
conference in Brussels.   UNHCR on both sides of the border, 
however, are far from optimistic about the prospects for returns 
anytime soon given the ongoing insecurity, especially in the 
Northwest.  They will stall any attempt to pressure them into 
facilitating what they consider a premature repatriation process. 
Tamlyn