Chad: Impact of CAR crisis - Update No. 01 (as of 27 May 2014)

This report is produced by OCHA Chad in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the period from 11 May to 27 May. The next report will be issued on or around 3 June.

Highlights

• Despite the CAR-Chad border being hermetically sealed officially, Chadian returnees, CAR refugees and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) continue to arrive in Chad.

• The number of people registered arriving in Chad from CAR since last December topped 100,000.

• Efforts to accelerate the construction of two new camps in the south of the country are underway. The sites are being prepared to host the habitants from the existing transit sites.

• Serious gaps in assistance remain, notably in shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). This poses particular concern as the rainy season has begun.

• Underfunding continues to hamper the ability to provide the required life-saving response in the sites.

• The Government put forward 28 April an emergency response plan requesting US$ 42.5 million. The humanitarian community is preparing an operational plan to support this.

101,679
People registered by IOM in Chad from CAR since 2013.
(Source: IOM)

62,770
People displaced from latest CAR crisis remaining in sites and camps.
(Source: IOM)

28,989
Chadian returnees transported to their final destinations throughout Chad.
(Source: IOM)

7,349
People relocated to the new camp of Danamadja.
(Source: IOM)

685
Shelters erected in Danamadja, out of 2,000 planned.
(Source: HCR)

15 litres
Water per day per person available in every transit site.
(Source: UNICEF)

Situation Overview

As of 19 May, 101,679 people were registered in Chad fleeing violence in neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) since late December 2013, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Of these, 62,770 people currently live in transit sites, spontaneous sites and host communities in southern Chad and in Zafaye site in the Gaoui neighborhood of N’Djamena.

Several thousand additional people are estimated to have arrived in Chad since last December but have not been registered. They arrived in zones with no or little humanitarian presence. Reports from humanitarian actors indicate that over 10,000 people are living in host communities in different villages in the Logone Oriental and Mandoul regions along the border with CAR and more are reported to have joined existing refugee camps and communities. In addition, authorities report that around 7,500 people have crossed from CAR into Salamat region. A recent verification mission conducted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) could not confirm these arrivals.

Over the last two months, the pace of new arrivals has decreased to less than one hundred new registrations daily, compared to 3,000 a day at the height of the influx in early January. However, clashes between armed groups on the CAR side of the border have repeatedly driven up to 700 people a day over the border from northern CAR into Chad.

Humanitarian actors report the presence of a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the border, in northern CAR. These people are living in extremely poor living conditions. Access to these people remains extremely difficult from within CAR due to security concerns. Cross-border operations from Chad into the zone to assist these people are equally limited due to the lack of resources.

With the rains underway, and given the lack of services, health professionals on the sites report a significant increase of cases of diarrhoea and malaria coinciding with the start of the rainy season. In Danamadja, 24 per cent of the 500 average consultations per week are cases of malaria and 14 per cent of acute respiratory infections. In Doyaba, malaria accounts for 16 per cent of all 785 average weekly consultations, followed by acute respiratory infections (14%) and diarrhoea (9%). On average, the health center in Doyaba treated 785 patients per week during the past four weeks.

Citing security reasons after armed attacks in Chad from CAR, the Government of Chad announced 12 May that it would hermetically seal the border and reinforced the security forces at the border. Officially, only Chadian returnees may enter the country. However, according to humanitarian sources, CAR nationals and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) are still able to cross into safety to Chad. Return travel into CAR is however no longer permitted.

The Government of Chad has decided to unconditionally provide birth certificates to every child born in the transit sites. This is important for access to social basic services in final destinations, be it in Chad for returned Chadian migrants or in CAR for current refugees.