U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1997 - Chad
More than 15,000 Chadians were refugees at the end of 1996, including more than 5,000 in Central African Republic, 4,000 in Sudan, 2,000 in Congo, 2,000 in Niger, about 1,500 in Nigeria, and about 1,000 in Cameroon. About 100 UNHCR-registered refugees, primarily from Sudan, were in Chad at the end of 1996. Chad had no governmental body responsible for reviewing claims to refugee status, and since 1993 has forwarded such claims to UNHCR’s regional office in Kinshasa, Zaire for evaluation. A series of armed insurrections in Chad dating back some 30 years has periodically forced tens of thousands of Chadians to flee their homes. In the 1980s and 1990s, the overthrow of the Hissein Habre regime and coup attempts against President Idris Deby fed ethnic conflicts that caused about 70,000 Chadians to flee. A 1994 peace agreement brought a measure of political stability to Chad, creating conditions favorable for repatriation to some areas of the country. During 1995, some 10,000 Chadians repatriated. In other areas, however, particularly in the south, government troops and armed insurgents continued to abuse civilians. During 1996, the severity of the abuses lessened somewhat. In July 1996, President Deby was elected to a five-year term in voting that was “marred by widespread and credible reports of fraud,” according to the U.S. Department of State. Despite that criticism, the fraud apparently did not alter the outcome of the election. In August, Deby’s government signed a peace agreement with the last major rebel group in the south. Some 1,588 Chadian refugees repatriated with UNHCR assistance during 1996, including 866 from Central African Republic and 722 from Cameroon.
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