Chad: first group of refugees depart for resettlement in the USA
Briefing Notes, 23 June 2009
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 23 June 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
A first group of 11 refugees left the Chadian capital N'Djamena by air on Sunday (21 June), to be resettled in the United States. The group comprised seven urban refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), three urban Sudanese refugees and one person from the Central African Republic (CAR) who had been living in Dosseye refugee camp in southern Chad. They will be resettled in Kentucky (Lexington), Texas (San Antonio), Iowa (Des Moines) and Utah (Salt Lake City).
Throughout this year we plan to identify a total of 1,800 cases for resettlement, most of them Sudanese refugees from Darfur living in refugee camps in eastern Chad.
Chad hosts a total of 250,000 Sudanese refugees from the Darfur region in twelve UNHCR-run camps in the east. In addition, there are 70,000 refugees from the CAR living in five camps in the south of the country. The United States has so far been the first country to promote resettlement from Chad.
Resettlement requires a very meticulous process and usually takes seven to nine months per individual case. It includes the selection by our Protection officers in the field, several interviews, medical screening carried out by IOM and cultural orientation sessions. Our staff is trained in anti-fraud measures to avoid selecting refugees who are not eligible and refugees are counseled until the very day of their departure on their rights and obligations in their new country. Resettlement to third countries is considered one of UNHCR's durable solutions for protracted refugee situations, along with voluntary repatriation and local integration.
The next group is expected to depart N'Djamena in early July and will mainly consist of Darfur refugees from eastern Chad's 12 refugee camps.
Voluntary repatriation, local integration, resettlement, the three key solutions.
A relevant handbook on the reception and integration of resettled refugees.
A repository for exchanging ideas on resettlement partnerships, June 2011.
An alternative for those who cannot go home, made possible by UNHCR and governments.
July 2011 edition of the UNHCR Resettlement Handbook.
Crisis in the Central African Republic
Little has been reported about the humanitarian crisis in the northern part of the Central African Republic (CAR), where at least 295,000 people have been forced out of their homes since mid-2005. An estimated 197,000 are internally displaced, while 98,000 have fled to Chad, Cameroon or Sudan. They are the victims of fighting between rebel groups and government forces.
Many of the internally displaced live in the bush close to their villages. They build shelters from hay, grow vegetables and even start bush schools for their children. But access to clean water and health care remains a huge problem. Many children suffer from diarrhoea and malaria but their parents are too scared to take them to hospitals or clinics for treatment.
Cattle herders in northern CAR are menaced by the zaraguina, bandits who kidnap children for ransom. The villagers must sell off their livestock to pay.
Posted on 21 February 2008
Crisis in the Central African Republic
Battling the Elements in Chad
More than 180,000 Sudanese refugees have fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region, crossing the border to the remote desert of eastern Chad.
It is one of the most inhospitable environments UNHCR has ever had to work in. Vast distances, extremely poor road conditions, scorching daytime temperatures, sandstorms, the scarcity of vegetation and firewood, and severe shortages of drinkable water have been major challenges since the beginning of the operation. Now, heavy seasonal rains are falling, cutting off the few usable roads, flooding areas where refugees had set up makeshift shelters, and delaying the delivery of relief supplies.
Despite the enormous environmental challenges, UNHCR has so far managed to establish nine camps and relocate the vast majority of the refugees who are willing to move from the volatile border.
Battling the Elements in Chad
Southerners on the move before Sudanese vote
Ahead of South Sudan's landmark January 9, 2011 referendum on independence, tens of thousands of southern Sudanese in the North packed their belongings and made the long trek south. UNHCR set up way stations at key points along the route to provide food and shelter to the travellers during their arduous journey. Several reports of rapes and attacks on travellers reinforced the need for these reception centres, where women, children and people living with disabilities can spend the night. UNHCR has made contingency plans in the event of mass displacement after the vote, including the stockpiling of shelter and basic provisions for up to 50,000 people.
Southerners on the move before Sudanese vote
Sudan: A Perilous Route
Kassala camp in eastern Sudan provides shelter to thousands of refugees from Eritrea. Many of them pass through the hands of ruthless and dangerous smugglers.
Sudan: Heading for a New Home
UNHCR is offering to help move hundreds of people from Sudan to newly independent South Sudan, where they will build new lives. Almost 250 families with ties to the south are waiting for a ride.
South Sudan: Blue Nile Refugees
Refugees are streaming in from Sudan's Blue Nile Region into South Sudan, many to Doro Camp.
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