Chad: UN agency moves Central African refugees away from border area

The United Nations refugee agency has begun moving some of the estimated 14,000 refugees who recently fled violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) away from the border in southern Chad to more accessible areas.

Ron Redmond, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said a first group of nearly 700 people was transferred on Saturday from the border town of Maya to a temporary transit site 25 kilometres further inland, near the village of Dembo.

“By the end of the week, we expect to have moved around 4,250 refugees to the Dembo site opened by UNHCR, its partner African Concern and local authorities,” he said at a press briefing in Geneva today.

Once they arrive at the site, the refugees will receive tents, blankets, mats, jerry cans and plastic sheeting from UNHCR, and food aid from the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Mr. Redmond added that UNHCR plans to further relocate the refugees from Dembo to established refugee camps near Goré, the main town in southern Chad, given that Dembo could become flooded during the upcoming rainy season.

The refugees began arriving in Chad earlier this year, having fled rebel and bandit attacks in their homeland.

Before the latest influx, Chad was hosting some 45,000 Central African refugees at four sites in the south. There are a further 240,000 refugees at 12 UNHCR-run camps in eastern Chad, while a further 180,000 Chadians have been displaced in the south-east.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 83 refugee children rescued from an attempted kidnapping by activists from the French group Arc de Zoe last October have now been reunited with their families in Chad.

UNICEF has provided each family with a small amount of money. It is also establishing programmes to support those children and thousands of others with food, water, sanitation, education and protection, as well as income-generating activities for their families.

Another 13 children are expected to be reunited with their families on Friday, according to the agency, which has been caring for the children since the arrest of the activists.