IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: ABECHE, CHAD'S EASTERN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NDJAMENA 000531

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/C AND S/USSES
NSC FOR GAVIN
LONDON FOR POL - LORD
PARIS FOR POL - BAIN AND KANEDA
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF ECON CD
SUBJECT: IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: ABECHE, CHAD'S EASTERN
METROPOLE

REF: A. 1989 NDJAMENA 1409

B. NDJAMENA 511

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Abeche, the metropole of eastern Chad, is the
center of activity for the local population and the
international community's humanitarian and peacekeeping
operations, as well as the far-flung region's commercial and
administrative center, both civilian and military. The GOC's
efforts toward poverty reduction and development are evident
here, but so too are the attendant social and economic
stresses due to the vastly increased international presence
here -- humanitarian international organizations and NGOs,
the UN PKO, and the contractors who provide logistical
support to them as they assist the 300,000 Sudanese refugees,
200,000 Chadian IDPS and local populations. The cost of
living for ordinary "abechois" has increased dramatically, as
have problems with access to water and other resources, and
most grave -- greatly increased criminality and banditry.
The international community provides some humanitarian and
development assistance to the local populations, but not
nearly on the scale of humanitarian assistance aimed at the
refugees and IDPs.


2. (SBU) Although the local population blames the
international community for many of Abeche's current
problems, their complaints are accurate only in so far as the
assistance provided is indeed badly balanced between the
"newcomers" and the "locals." Many of the region's social
problems and lack of development pre-date the arrival of
refugees and IDPs, but there is however no doubt that the
international humanitarian and PKO presence has significantly
exacerbated those societal and economic problems. At the
same time, it has heightened the awareness of the local
population to the development needs of the city and the wider
region. The example of the attention paid to the needs of
the refugees and IDPs by the international community and the
GOC has spurred the local populations, including many IDPs,
to recognize that they are just as vulnerable from the
essential conditions of their lives, unchanged for decades,
and that they have legitimate right to clamor for essential
services, either from their own authorities, or from more
international organizations. END SUMMARY.

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KEY POINTS
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3. (SBU) Key points follow:
-- Abeche and the region are under stress -- societal,
economic, environmental, security;
-- Locals resent the very negative impact of humanitarian and
peacekeeping actors;
-- GOC and MINURCAT are providing some development assistance
to the local community; and
-- Assistance decisions must take into account the needs of
the local population.

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CHAD'S EASTERN CENTER
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4. (SBU) Abeche, with a Chadian population around 50,000, is
the coutry's largest eastern city and ranks fourth in size
after N'Djamena and southern cities Moundou and Sarh. The
city is the capital of the Ouaddai region, whose population
of 730,000 in the 2009 census made it the fourth most
populous of Chad's 21 regions. Prime Minister Youssouf Salah
Abbas, Higher Education Minister Ahmat Taboye, and Interior
Minister Ahmat Bachir all come from the Ouaddai region. As
throughout Chad, most Ouaddians are subsistence herders and
farmers (with about ten percent of the region's land under
cultivation). As the historical capital of Dar Ouaddai,
Abeche has played a central role in all of the key moments in
the relationships among the political, ethnic, and economic
groups that have interacted in Ouaddai and Darfur sultanates
long predating the Chad-Sudan border. Indeed, as Ref A makes
clear, Abeche traditionally looked more toward the East and

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Sudan for its economic and social relations than westward to
the rest of Chad.


5. (SBU) In addition to its stature as Chad's eastern
metropole, Abeche has been the hub for all humanitarian
operations in eastern Chad since the current crisis began in

2004. It hosts the forward deployed operational headquarters
of MINURCAT, the UN peacekeeping operation for Chad and the
Central African Republic, and the logistics offices of all UN
humanitarian agencies and partner NGOs. By most estimates,
the UN and international NGO presence has tripled or
quadrupled the population of Abeche since the onset of the
current iteration of conflict in eastern Chad and western
Sudan in 2004.

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ABECHE TODAY:
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES
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6. (SBU) The government's efforts to implement its poverty
reduction strategy, coupled with the international presence,
are having some positive impacts on Abeche. For example, the
government is benefiting from a Chinese assistance program to
improve the road infrastructure between N'Djamena and Abeche
and pol/econoff had to detour around some of the city's main
thoroughfares that were being graded and paved -- a welcome
development for the city's population in general as well as
for the operators of the Indian-manufactured three-wheelers
tooling around. Some 4,000 Chinese may be based in Abeche
for road and other infrastructure projects, but remain
confined almost exclusively to their compounds outside of
work hours.


7. (SBU) The government has also recently used Abeche to
launch a nationwide campaign against gender-based violence
and to host a forum on human rights issues in the north and
east of Chad, both in partnership with UN agencies. The
government's local representative of the Ministry of Social
Action told pol/econoff that the ministry is working with
local cooperative associations to provided needed items such
as materials and human resources. The GOC is also in the
final stages of outfitting a vocational and technical
training center for youths 14-18 years old. Other local and
religious groups provide employment and schooling
opportunities for some of the most destitute: abused women
and abandoned children.


8. (SBU) The local government-controlled radio station,
broadcasting in French, Arabic, and Maba, is responsible for
the entire region but only has enough power to transmit for
25 kilometers. The director at Radio Abeche said that the
station features health and religious call-in shows, in
addition to culture and sports programs, but that he regrets
that he can not use the radio as the means of political and
social debate it should be. Both local and international
interlocutors, however, said that they listened to the
State/PRM-funded InterNews station, Voices of Ouaddai, which
has greater transmission power than Radio Abeche.


9. (SBU) The increased international presence has had a
mixed impact on Abeche. Three local banks opened branches in
Abeche in 2008, bringing to four the total number of banking
institutions. Increased demand for housing driven by the
rapid expansion of humanitarian operations in the region has
raised real estate prices, which has only benefitted the few
who are landowners. By all other accounts, we witnessed the
various negative impacts of the international presence. Cost
of living has risen dramatically, with basic foodstuffs three
to four times as expensive. Many local families can no
longer afford the increased cost of housing or even to feed
themselves; the number of abandoned children has increased.
The fragile ecosystem of the semi-arid environment, which
barely managed to provide water resources to sustain the
historic indigenous population, is insufficient to serve the
new expanded population.


10. (SBU) The local opulation, with an imperfect
understanding of th requirements of UN and INGO operations,
feels unairly excluded frm both the assistance brought to
the region and business opportunities that the iternational

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presence might be expected to bring. Some local
interlocutors recognized that UN humanitarian and political
agencies were providing some assistance to local populations,
but regretted that the efforts were not sufficient or robust.
Members of the local branch of the Chamber of Commerce were
not satisfied when pol/econoff noted that MINURCAT, UN
agencies, and INGOs hire local staff members for offices
throughout the area of operations, instead opining that the
number of international staff brought to fill positions was
excessive, and insisting that any Chadian was as competent as
any foreign worker. Chamber members complained that MINURCAT
did not involve the local business community in sourcing
goods or construction projects, but then admitted that local
firms are unable to supply materials in sufficient quality or
amounts in a timely fashion, given that the border closure
with Sudan -- due to the Darfur conflict -- often meant a
six-month delivery time for imports to transit from Dubai,
via Egypt and Libya. Other contacts shared that Sudanese
goods still cross the officially closed border, but that
those imports are mainly basic food items in a volume
commensurate with the local population,s needs.


11. (SBU) Crime and general lawlessness have also risen
dramatically in the region since the expansion of the
international presence. The international community
introduced valuable goods -- cars, electronics, personal
property, themselves -- into a region where the Chadian state
is at its weakest -- with police, judicial, political
acceptance of impunity. Security is now a life-threatening
concern for locals and foreigners (Ref B).

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COMMENT
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12. (SBU) The international community in Abeche has clearly
put economic and environmental pressure on this semi-arid
desert city, significantly exacerbating societal problems and
resource constraints that predate the arrival of the refugees
or the peacekeeping operation. Increased activity in the
city has heightened awareness of the development needs of the
city and the wider region. The magnitude of the peacekeeping
and humanitarian operation focused on the refugees and
internally displaced, especially the rapid provision of
effective health and water infrastructures to populations
vulnerable from conflict contrasts starkly with the services
and assistance received by the local population, just as
vulnerable from the essential conditions of their lives,
unchanged for decades, who have legitimate right to clamor
for basic services, either from their own authorities, or
from international organizations.


13. (SBU) Positively, one of the more significant
development projects that affects the population both in and
around Abeche is the USAID-funded Africare Food Security
Initiative which has been implemented in this area since the
mid-1980s. The project currently focuses on increasing food
security through agricultural production in areas adjacent to
wadis (seasonal rivers) and on improving health status of
women and children. It is projects like this for Abeche
residents and other local populations that the USG can not
ignore when prioritizing development assistance. END COMMENT.


14. (U) Minimize considered.
NIGRO