UN: Thousands flee Chad violence

“More than 10,000 of them fled their homes following cross-border attacks by alleged Janjawid militia in the region of Borota.”

 

“Another 10,000 from more than 20 villages have fled inter-communal hostilities and are now gathered in the village of Gassire, 8km north of the town of Goz Beida.”

 

 

The UN said it was unable either to stop the violence or to offer adequate aid and shelter to Chadians driven from their homes.

 

“Resources are simply insufficient to meet the overwhelming needs,” Serge Male, UNHCR’s Chad representative, said in the statement.

 

The UN cited problems with supplying water and firewood to displaced populations in the remote and largely desert area.

 

Aid agencies are also struggling to help 230,000 Sudanese nationals who have fled fighting in Sudan’s neighbouring Darfur region and now live in 12 camps dotted along the Chadian side of the border.

 

Janjawid members based in Sudan’s Darfur can easily raid villages in Chad

 

Darfur’s civil war began in early 2003, pitting local rebel groups broadly representing African farming tribes against Sudanese government forces and their mounted Arab militia allies, known as Janjawid.

 

Along with the many refugees, the violence in Sudan has spilled over the border into Chad, forcing tens of thousands of villagers from their homes and endangering both the refugee camps and aid workers.

 

The security situation is further complicated by sporadic violence in the area between Chadian rebels and government forces, which accuse Sudan of arming the rebel groups.