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