UNHCR REVIEWS SECURITY IN EASTERN CHAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 001097 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, AF/SPG, D, DRL, DS/IP/ITA, DS/IP/AF, H, INR, INR/GGI, PRM, USAID/OTI AND USAID/W FOR DARFURRMT; LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS; GENEVA FOR CAMPBELL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREF CD SU SUBJECT: UNHCR REVIEWS SECURITY IN EASTERN CHAD REF: NDJAMENA 1071 1.(SBU) Summary: The security situation in the eastern Chadian town of Guereda remains tenuous. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials question whether the assurances provided (reftel) by the former Minister of Territorial Administration concerning security for humanitarian workers in Eastern Chad will be realized now that he has been assigned another ministerial position. While grateful for U.S. funding for training of additional gendarmes, UNHCR officials were disturbed that the Government of Chad (GOC) appears unable to identify gendarmes to assume the newly-funded posts. End summary. ¶2. (U) On August 29 the Charge d'Affaires, Political Officer, and Regional Security Officer met with David Kapya, Deputy Director of Sudan and Chad Special Operations for the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva; Liz Haoua, Security Officer for UNHCR in Geneva; and Serge Male, the Director of UNHCR in Chad. Kapya, Male, and Haoua had just returned from an assessment of security conditions affecting refugee programs in the Eastern and Southern regions of Chad. ¶3. (U) Kapya thanked the Embassy and the American government for its support for UNHCR and its programs and stressed that the recent U.S. donation for security assistance came at a much-needed time. He noted that, in response to the worsening security situation in the East, the UN has placed two senior security officers in the region. Kapya reported that the situation in Guereda, recently the scene of an armed robbery against an NGO partner, was still tenuous. The absence of a local authority was noticeable. The new prefet announced by the Minister of Territorial Administration (reftel) as part of a package of measures designed to improve the security situation, had not been available to meet with the UN delegation (having apparently left town for a wedding). In N'djamena, the newly- appointed Minister of Territorial Administration was unavailable as he had been called upon to assist with resolving an intra-ethnic dispute in Faya-Largeau. ¶4. (U) Kapya said that the UN had decided to move the gendarmes from the refugee camp into the town of Guereda in order to have them patrol the perimeter at night. The workers still felt far from safe, but were continuing their missions nonetheless. Regrettably, given the lack of resources, moving the gendarmes from the refugee camps left the refugee camps unguarded. ¶5. (U) One of the issues that the team addressed during the meeting was the lack of gendarmes, and the lack of able- bodied people that could be given proper training. UNHCR's objective of training gendarmes (with U.S. funding) to provide enhanced security has been stymied by the fact that the GOC appears unable to come up with the 100 required gendarmes. UNHCR officials expressed deep frustration with this situation. They reported that they had been told that Chad had 15,000 soldiers, 5,000 gendarmes and only 2,500 police. ¶6. (SBU) The team reported that there was a deep unease in the refugee camps. In the Kokoyo refugee camp they were provided a document written in Arabic by the refugees. The refugees said that they had been informed that a July 19 pact between the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed had resulted in an agreement that whoever fought on the side of the GOS would be compensated (dead or alive). Furthermore, any disarmament of the Janjaweed would be for show only. UN Officials acknowledged that they had no independent verification of this information, and acknowledged that it could well be a recruiting tool being used to persuade disaffected refugees to continue the fight against the GOS. Nonetheless, the UN officials expressed concern at the increasingly polarized situation in Darfur. ¶7. (U) Kapya also discussed the Southern region of Chad where refugees were well on their way to food self- sufficiency. Kapya expressed hope in being able to duplicate a project that he had created in Guinea in which a relatively small amount of money (approximately 500,000 USD),was used to help enable the local population to produce enough food through subsistence farming to allow WFP food aid to be curtailed. He expressed hope that donors would be willing to fund such a project for C.A.R. refugees in Chad. NDJAMENA 00001097 002 OF 002 ¶8. (U) When asked if there was anything the Embassy could do to further assist UNHCR, Haoua stated that they needed assistance with recovering lost vehicles. The UN and partners had lost over 30 vehicles in the last year. Some had been recovered, but increasingly the cars were not found. Some were reportedly being driven up through Libya and sold. Others were taken over the border and used by Chadian and Sudanese rebel groups. Nonetheless, given the small size of the communities in which the UN and its partners operated, it was shocking that authorities were unable to identify and seize the perpetrators. The level of impunity was a serious issue. CDA stated that the Embassy would continue to support UNHCR and be an advocate for them with the host nation, but pointed out that the GOC had already admitted that it was unable to combat vehicle thefts. ¶9. (U) Kapya stated that he will be drafting a report detailing his trip which will include recommendations. UNHCR representative to Chad, Serge Male, will provide the Embassy with a copy of the report. COMMENT: ¶10. The strong assurances made by former Minister of Territorial Administration to the UN, partners and donors (reftel) concerning a package of measures designed to enhance security appears to be - as feared - evanescent. The absence of local authorities in Guereda and the continuing shifting of Ministerial portfolios in N'djamena make it difficult to identify and hold accountable those officials who would otherwise be responsible in some measure for ensuring the security of humanitarian workers in Eastern Chad. End comment. TAMLYN