UN official calls for greater financial support and awareness to Chad violence and refugees

The U.N. humanitarian chief for Chad has called for greater financial support and international awareness of that country's burgeoning refugee population and increasing violence.

Kingsley Amaning, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Chad, said only 2 percent of the US$240 million (euro154 million) the U.N. appealed for in December to help Chad has been received. At the same time, 10,000 more refugees from neighboring Darfur have entered camps in Chad over the last month, bringing the total to 250,000.

"250,000 people in that area constitutes a problem because of the inhospitable environment," he said Thursday. "It's an environment which normally cannot sustain more than 20,000 people in a given area."

The 5-year conflict in Darfur, which has left more than 200,000 dead and uprooted 2.5 million from their homes, has spilled over Sudan's border into eastern Chad, leading to a serious deterioration of security in the region.

Last month, rebels launched a failed assault on Chad's capital, exacerbating the insecurity and displacement problems. Chadian President Idriss Deby accused Sudan of supporting and arming the rebels — but the Sudanese government denied any involvement.

Amaning said the larger concentrations of refugees in Chad are having an impact on water and energy supplies, and on facilities that provide education and medical care.

"We are still worried that this number will increase further, because peace has not returned to Darfur, and there are a lot of potential refugees," he said. "We need advocacy that will bring improvements in the environment and tackles the crisis that has created insecurity."

Chad is landlocked and impoverished, and the transport of aid is difficult over unsafe roads made even more inaccessible by the rainy season and violence in the area.

"The incursions and armed rebellions, which have reduced government protection, have become a major element in the challenges we face to provide assistance to the people," Amaning told a news conference at U.N. headquarters.

In the last two years, he said that over 80 U.N. vehicles have been hijacked.

Despite these adversities, the U.N. still maintains a presence and continues to provide assistance. But, Amaning said, "We want to be able to do more for the vulnerable population and the local people."

He called for more aid and investment, better planning, and government participation.

Amaning welcomed the presence of a European peacekeeping force deployed in Chad and neighboring Central African Republic to protect uprooted people and aid workers on the borders of Darfur.

The force, known as EUFOR, will involve 3,800 troops from at least 14 countries. The mission has been delayed by logistical problems and recent fighting in Chad, but 700 EUFOR troops are on the ground, and 115 Austrian troops arrived Thursday.

"The international community has provided generous support, but we need more," he said.

Amaning also called for a campaign to increase public awareness of Chad's crisis, saying it would "bring to bear on the government the importance of finding a solution."

"It's very important that the world gets to know what is happening in Chad," he said, citing widespread human suffering, threats to life, abuse of human rights, and "the denial of the opportunity for so many thousands of people to live in dignity and to live in security."