UN envoy urges Chad not to expel Sudanese refugees

As violence intensified in Chad and its Government threatened to expel hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees who fled fighting in the troubled Darfur region of their country, a senior United Nations envoy today called on all parties to resolve their disputes at the negotiation table while protecting those in need of humanitarian assistance.

“Forcing refugees who are the victims of previous conflicts to flee again in the course of the current conflict, which is not of their making, would result in great additional suffering for them,” said Jan Pronk, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative to Sudan, voicing deep concern about increased violence in Chad.

“It would also violate international humanitarian law,” he said in a statement released in Khartoum.

Mr. Pronk made his comments after the Government of Chad threatened to expel about 200,000 refugees from Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

He called upon the N'Djamena Government to abide by its international obligations to secure the full protection and well being of all refugees on its territories.

The statement also called on all parties to solve their political disputes through diplomatic means as well as negotiations.

“Peace in Chad and Sudan is essential for the region as a whole,” Mr. Pronk said.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), which is in the lead on the logistical side of the world body's massive relief operations in Chad, reported on Thursday that all non-essential staff as well as personnel of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were being evacuated in response to rising violence in the country.

Nearly 150 people were evacuated from N'Djamena, where the Government and rebels clashed. Aid operations continue in Chad, where the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and other organizations are caring for not only 200,000 Sudanese refugees but also 40,000 people who fled the Central African Republic (CAR).