U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2000 - Chad

Chad hosted about 20,000 refugees from Sudan at the end of 1999.

Some 15,000 Chadians were refugees at year's end: nearly 5,000 in Central African Republic; nearly 5,000 in Sudan; some 3,000 in Cameroon; and 1,000 in Nigeria.

Approximately 30,000 Chadians lived in refugee-like conditions in Cameroon.

Some 20,000 refugees from Sudan were in Chad at year's end.

Refugees from Sudan

Approximately 10,000 Sudanese refugees fled to Chad in early 1999 to escape violent ethnic-related clashes over land use in western Sudan. Nearly 20,000 new Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad since 1998.

The refugees have settled at about 30 sites in remote eastern Chad. The UN World Food Program indicated in August that it planned to provide several thousand tons of food aid to the refugees as well as to 6,000 local Chadian residents affected by the large refugee influx. The refugees' nutrition problems "stabilized" by mid-year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

UNHCR attempted to improve the refugees' self-reliance by promoting agricultural programs and local settlement projects in the second half of the year.

Western Sudan's ethnic violence reportedly spilled into Chad during 1999 when armed Sudanese militia allegedly raided Chad's refugee area, resulting in more than 50 refugee deaths, according to one unconfirmed report. The governments of Chad and Sudan signed an agreement in September to improve security along their mutual border in hopes of promoting refugees' voluntary repatriation to both countries.

Chadian Refugees

A series of armed insurrections in Chad during the past 30 years has produced waves of population displacement. Ethnic divisions, religious differences, and regional tensions between the country's northern and southern populations have fueled continual rounds of violence.

A peace agreement in 1994 persuaded 10,000 to 13,000 Chadian refugees to return home during the mid-1990s. Eruptions of renewed violence caused several thousand Chadians to flee the country during 1997-98, but a peace accord in mid-1998 ended most violence in the south and created conditions for the potential repatriation of many Chadian refugees remaining outside the country.

In 1999, the trend toward peace in the southern half of the country continued. The government in July persuaded one of Chad's oldest rebel groups to begin disarming in return for amnesty. The government warned, however, of a potential new insurgency in the country's eastern oil region, and battled a new rebel group in Chad's remote, arid north.

UNHCR began to plan for the homecoming of Chadian refugees, many of whom have lived outside the country for decades. UNHCR predicted that 15,000 to 20,000 Chadian refugees might eventually repatriate. The agency announced that it would open two new field offices in returnee areas and indicated that it planned to channel most reintegration assistance via local cooperatives that had, according to the UN refugee agency, facilitated "remarkable" socio-economic reintegration for 10,000 returnees in previous years.

Delays limited the number of returnees during 1999, however. About 1,000 Chadian refugees returned from Central African Republic with UNHCR assistance, which included a two-month food package before entering Chad, and up to three months of food aid after settling in Chad. Observers expected significant repatriation would occur during 2000.