CHAD: Thousands of people who fled to Chad from Sudan's Darfur region plead with UN's top refugee official to either move them or protect them against cross-border raids which have killed hundreds

Thousands of people who fled to Chad from Sudan's Darfur region pleaded with the UN's top refugee official on Friday (December 22) to either move them or protect them against cross-border raids which have killed hundreds. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres visited the Goz Amer refugee camp near Koukou Angarana, close to the border with Darfur, where Arab raiders attacked two villages last weekend, killing Sudanese refugees and Chadian civilians. Upon arrival at the airport of the regional capital Abeche Guterres spoke with injured waiting for transfer to a hospital. "The international community has a great responsibility to create a humanitarian space so we can keep working. To do nothing would be unacceptable," Guterres said. The east of Chad borders Sudan's Darfur region where a political and ethnic conflict since 2003 has killed tens of thousands of people and spilled over into neighbouring states. Some 70 villages in southeastern Chad have been attacked since early November by gunmen on horseback using identical tactics to those of the Janjaweed militia fighting over the border in Darfur, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. It said the recent violence had killed some 300 Chadians. Chad's government has said the attackers gouged out the eyes of some soldiers and disembowelled one civilian in the latest raids. Officials have blamed the attacks on the Janjaweed, a term loosely signifying "devils on horseback" in Arabic. Terrified of more attacks, refugees lining the road leading to the Goz Amer camp, which houses some 18,000 civilians from Darfur, chanted "security or relocation" as Guterres arrived. Guterres also met displaced Chadians at Habile, a makeshift camp housing around 9,000 people, more than half of them displaced over the past two months. "The problem are the Arabs and here the security is not ensured. We would prefer to be somewhere else to avoid being threatened by Arabic militia," said villager Abdel-Aziz Mht Adam. Ending his tour, he spoke to refugees demonstrating on the main street of the refugee camp Goz Amer for more security. 'Where is the international protection for refugees?" read a piece of paper held up by a villager. The security situation in Eastern Chad has deteriorated strongly in the past months with rebel attacks not only on Chadian villages but also on UN led refugee camps.

ITN Source | December 23, 2006

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