U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants World Refugee Survey 2005 - Chad

Refoulement/Asylum  There were no reports of refoulement from Chad. Chad kept its borders open to more than 130,000 refugees fleeing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. By year's end, about 225,000 Sudanese refugees were living along Chad's eastern border, with more arriving in early 2005.

While Chad did not have a national refugee or asylum law, its Constitution granted the right of asylum, and an August Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reiterated the Government's commitment to protect asylum seekers and refrain from refoulement. The National Refugee Reception Commission (CNAR), registered refugees who entered the country at official checkpoints, but could not register many who crossed at other locations for several weeks after arrival. In urban areas, the Government began conducting individual refugee status determinations with UNHCR observing.

Competition over water, grazing land, wood, and other scarce resources generated resentment among nationals whose per capita daily income was less than a dollar. Several conflicts between nationals and refugees erupted, resulting in the deaths of several refugees. In July, gendarmes shot and killed two refugees one of whom was threatening aid workers and gendarmes with a sharp instrument.

Detention  There were no reports of detention or punishment of refugees or asylum seekers for illegal entry or as deterrence. In a few cases, however, authorities detained refugees or camp leaders for up to a week for minor infractions, such as gathering wood outside of permitted zones. In July, in Farchana and Bredjing camps authorities arrested and later released17 refugees for allegedly threatening aid workers and gendarmes. In November, the Government detained eight refugees at Bredjing, including some of the earlier group, for allegedly threatening aid workers and other refugees.

Working with UNHCR the Government issued camp-based refugee families registration cards that also entitled them to rations. All adults granted status through the refugee status determination process in urban areas received individual cards. Access to courts and the legal system was limited due to its lack of resources and vulnerability to external influence.

Right to Earn a Livelihood  In urban areas or small towns near refugee camps, refugees were able to seek jobs, though there were few. Locals pressed UNHCR and contractors to hire nationals rather than refugees. For formal jobs, refugees needed CNAR's confirmation of their entitlement to work. Non-refugee Sudanese nationals, however, did not need permits to work.

Most refugees remained entirely dependent on camp-based aid. Some Sudanese refugees could farm small gardens or graze livestock inside the camps, but land and water were scarce. In most camps, refugees could trade in markets or work for UNHCR or its implementing partners for wages just below the country's minimum.

UNHCR relocated refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) in Danamadji and Maro camps to Yaroungou camp, where they could build shelters and farm.

Freedom of Movement and Residence  The Government required refugees to obtain a "safe conduct" document from CNAR before leaving the camp regions for which they sometimes had to wait several days. Many refugees could travel in the camp regions or to the capital N'djamena without such documents, though police often demanded bribes for passage. Nearly all refugees lived in camps or rural settlements but a few thousand lived in urban areas. Dependency on food rations compelled the vast majority to remain in or near camps. Along the Sudanese border, about 209,000 Sudanese refugees lived in camps and 15,000 lived outside of the camps, often hosted by nationals. Almost all CAR refugees resided in two camps, Amboko and Yaroungou, in southern Chad.

Insecurity restricted refugees' ability to travel, and there were reports that security forces harassed, robbed, and beat refugees. Bandits from CAR and Sudan attacked refugees in camps or settlements close to the southern and eastern borders. Attacks, robbery, and cattle rustling by Sudanese militias and other armed groups also compelled many to move to camps. Sudan bombed the border town Tine, Chad killing several residents. Assailants raped many refugee women who left camps to search for firewood. Starting in August, the Government deployed 180 specially trained members of the gendarmerie to protect the 11 eastern camps and ensure that armed persons did not enter them.

Public Relief and Education  UNHCR built 11 camps for Sudanese refugees along Chad's eastern border, providing them with food, shelter, and other necessities. With refugees arriving throughout the year, camps were constantly overcrowded, sometimes at more than twice the planned capacity. In July, nearly 25 percent of both refugee and Chadian children in the eastern region suffered from acute malnutrition due to poor rains and lack of grazing lands for cattle.

In eastern Chad, eight camps began primary education programs by October. Camp schools, however, lacked materials, teachers, and curricula compatible with the children's previous schooling. Chadian schools were generally located too far away from camps and instruction was provided in French rather than Arabic, as in Sudanese schools. In N'djamena, UNHCR assisted only a minority of those refugees it deemed most vulnerable, though in 2005 it expanded healthcare and employment training. In July, refugees protested aid agencies' planting trees in the camps, fearing that it signified indefinite displacement.

Copyright 2005, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants