Starting on November 7, Refugees International’s Congressional Advocate, Sayre Nyce, and McCall-Pierpaoli Fellow, Yemisrach Benalfew, will undertake a month-long mission to the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad to assess humanitarian and protection needs of Central African refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The team will also assess how instability in Darfur, Chad and CAR leads to deteriorating humanitarian conditions across the region.

The conflict in Darfur is increasingly spilling over to Chad, particularly in the east, as well as CAR. The governments of Sudan, Chad, and CAR, and rebels groups opposing them, have formed various alliances against one another and are waging proxy wars. Eastern Chad is witnessing increased activities by the Chadian armed rebellion, Sudanese government troops, and Sudanese armed groups such as the government-backed Janjaweed and rebel JEM. Insecurity and attacks against civilians and humanitarian agencies are increasing. Violence in Darfur, Chad and CAR has resulted in an estimated 63,000 Chadians displaced, in addition to about 218,000 Sudanese refugees and more than 45,000 Central African refugees in Chad.

The incursion of Chadian and Sudanese rebel groups into CAR is expected to further destabilize the region and lead to more displacement of civilians. The northern provinces of the CAR bordering Cameroon, Chad, and Darfur – Ouham-Pende, Ouham, Kaga Bandoro, Bamingui-bangoran and Vakaga – are characterized by the presence of former Chadian troops, CAR rebels, bandits, and (most recently) Sudanese rebels, engaged in killing, looting and kidnapping of civilians. Of the 48,000 CAR refugees that fled to southern Chad, about 30,000 are in UNHCR camps. Displacement in northern CAR, however, is more difficult to trace. An estimated 200,000 internally displaced reportedly live in ‘bushes and forests’ to avoid attack, some since 2002. Despite this high number of IDPs, only a handful of aid agencies operate in northern CAR.

The activities of the armed groups and the insecurity in northern CAR further accelerates the collapse of the socio-economic infrastructure which has already been hit hard by instability and consecutive coups in the past -1965, 1979, 1981, (an attempted one in 2001), and 2003. To date, the impacts are felt in the break-down of the state’s ability to provide basic services (health care, drinking water, education, roads), to pay civil servants’ salaries, and to control violence and restore law outside the capital Bangui. The salary arrears of civil servants and former Chad soldiers was one of the main reasons for the 2003 coup that overthrew Ange Patassé and brought into power the current president Francois Bozizé.

In Chad, humanitarian agencies are stretched to provide protection and assistance to the internally displaced and the Sudanese and Central African refugees. Indeed, Refugees International visited camps for Central African and Darfurian refugees in March and reported on the poor conditions in the camps and need for additional funding to humanitarian agencies. It would therefore be quite difficult for Chad to handle new refugee flows due to fighting in CAR and Darfur. In addition, agencies face increased insecurity and violence against humanitarian workers, logistical constraints, poor road networks that make access to affected populations difficult, lack of implementing partners with adequate capacity, and insufficient resources.

In CAR, an estimated 200,000 people are internally displaced, yet only a few international agencies are present to provide aid and protection. In June of this year the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, called CAR one of the world’s most neglected crises. Insecurity, poor infrastructure, lack of confidence in state structures and mismanagement of funds by various government institutions are given as reasons for the lack of response. The government has little control over its most of its territory and is calling on international support to oust rebels currently occupying a city in Vakaga province which borders Chad and Sudan.

During the month, Refugees International will examine the relationship among the conflicts in Darfur, Chad and CAR and the regional impact on the humanitarian situation. Specifically, the team will visit refugee camps in southern Chad to investigate humanitarian and protection concerns. Then, they will travel to northern CAR to assess conditions for displaced people. The team will return to Bangui and N’Djamena for meetings with various agencies. Finally, they will conduct meetings with UN agencies and NGOs in Geneva and with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other institutions in Paris.