About Chad

Chad is a desperately poor, arid country in the centre of Africa. It has been in the grip of political turmoil and ethnic tensions for the past three decades. Unfortunately its neighbours’ problems have spilled across its borders, meaning Chad is struggling with a massive influx of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), causing a humanitarian crisis.

Chad is now home to 280, 000 refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region and an additional 55, 000 people from Central African Republic. As the Darfur conflict rages, more than 170, 000 Chadians have fled their homes, seeking refuge in IDP camps.

Chad’s civilians have also been caught in the crossfire of rebel fighting between ethnic Arab Chadians and ethnic African Chadians, affecting an estimated 700 000 local people. Food, farm land and water were already scarce, and Chadians must now contend with refugees from Darfuri and the Central African Republic. People living in Eastern Chad are in particular danger from cross-border attacks, and face the risk of being recruited into rebel and militia groups.

Both the governments of Chad and Sudan are supporting and arming rebel groups in each other’s countries, trying to destabilse their neighbour’s regimes. Khartoum backs Chadian rebels and militia groups in Darfur, and President Idriss Deby’s government in Ndjamena supports Sudanese rebel groups in eastern Chad. This in turn has led to a deterioration of relations between sedentary farmers and nomadic herders over water and pasture, mirroring the ongoing problems across the border in Darfur. Consequently there is a security vacuum along the eastern border.

Chadian civilians, Sudanese refugees and international humanitarian organizations have been left with no protection from cross-border attacks. Some aid agencies have been forced to leave the area because of insecurity.

In villages and camps on the Chad-Darfur border, civilians have been repeatedly attacked by militias, rebel groups and government forces. Attacks include arbitrary killings (often by burning people alive), torture, rape, mutilations and the recruitment of child soldiers. Those who have survived these brutal and often repeated attacks have to live with the trauma and the loss of family members and friends.

It is thought that 400,000 people have died as a result of the atrocities in Darfur, and tens of thousands of women have been systematically raped. Children have been forcibly recruited as child soldiers, and survivors have often witnessed the murder of close family members. The scale of trauma, added to the difficulties associated with living in temporary shelter in camps, affects people’s ability to rebuild their lives, to work and learn, and to contribute to their community.

When trauma and the psychological effects of the war are addressed, there is a much greater chance that individuals can become active members of their societies, moving away from cycles of violence and revenge.

As the fighting in Darfur escalates, and more refugees arrive, the United Nations warns that the humanitarian crisis in Chad will become a catastrophe. Action to help heal lives and communities is urgently needed.