Chad: UN starts relocating 10,000 refugees in path of flooding

With flooding already hindering movement in southern Chad, the United Nations refugee agency and its partners today began the weeks-long relocation of 10,000 needy refugees from the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) who are threatened with being cut off from all aid during the rainy season.

The refugees, who have been living in makeshift settlements around 17 villages in remote areas in southern Chad after fleeing unrest in northern CAR in June, are being moved to an existing camp at Amboko, where UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) can more easily provide humanitarian assistance.

This morning, escorted by Chadian gendarmes for the five-hour drive through bandit-ridden areas, the first three trucks carrying 97 refugees, mostly women and children, ploughed through rain-flooded areas to Amboko camp.

"Yesterday, we were afraid the refugees would refuse to move, but this morning they were happy to go to Amboko, where living conditions are more acceptable," UNHCR logistics officer Colin Pryce said. On arrival they were provided with food rations like beans and sorghum, as well as relief items like mats and jerry cans.

Amboko already hosts 13,000 refugees who fled CAR after a military coup in 2003, but it can accommodate up to 27,000 people. The Chadian Government has provided UNHCR with additional land to build a temporary transit centre.

A second relocation is set for tomorrow. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent is providing seven trucks, boosting UNHCR's transport capacity to 10 trucks.