(Extract)
Briefer: Kris Janowski - Media
Relations
This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today's Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva. Further information can be found on the UNHCR website, www.unhcr.ch, which should also be checked for regular media updates on non-briefing days.
1) CHAD
UNHCR teams in Eastern Chad are monitoring the border region with Sudan amid reports that another 18,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed into Chad in the past week following heavy fighting in the Darfur region. The new refugee arrivals are reported at several locations - along the northern segment of the affected border zone near Koulbous, Birak and Djoran, and along the southern segment of the border around Tisi, Ade and Goz-Bedah.
Local authorities report that approximately 2,500 people arrived in the surroundings of Waddi Sandi located north of Koulbous, 23 kilometres from the border. According to refugees interviewed by UNHCR, Sudanese forces attacked ten villages in the canton of Djerbira in the early morning hours of last Friday (January 16). The refugees said the troops burned houses and dynamited wells, provoking an exodus by villagers across the border. Most of the refugees fled immediately when the attack started on Friday and did not have time to take anything with them, they said. Some of the women reported that their husbands stayed behind in Sudan. While some of the refugees say they were themselves victims of the attacks, others left as soon as they heard shooting in nearby villages. They said they have no hope at this point of going back anytime soon to Darfur as their homes have been destroyed and they fear for their lives if they return.
The 2,500 people are scattered along a 20-30 kilometre stretch of a sandy river bed, where they have built makeshift shelters out of branches. One of the main problems of this location is the lack of access to water. UNHCR teams report that in the past two days, some groups of refugees have started to leave the site and head further inside Chad to Ogona. The local authorities have identified a temporary site near Ogona where the refugees can have access to wells for water. Refugees, mainly women, children and old people, are traveling to Ogona on donkeys.
Today, the UNHCR team will go to Andou, a village located between Waddi Sandi and Tine to monitor the number of new arrivals there and assess the needs of the refugees.
Local authorities in Guereda reported that another group of approximately 4,000 Sudanese refugees arrived in the area of Birak at the beginning of the week. The local authorities have allocated an open field some five kms from Birak for the newly arrived refugees.
In Djoran, 13 kilometers from Birak, another 1,315 people arrived in the past week. They walked or came on donkeys from the villages of Habsourd and Berseliba, through the mountains of Hadja Mothahim, and crossed the border at Korok.
Further south, the local authorities in Abeche informed UNHCR on Wednesday morning of the arrival of an estimated 10,000 Sudanese in the region of Tisi, Ade and Goz-Bedah this week. A UNHCR team will be dispatched on the ground next week together with members of the NGO Africare to evaluate the situation and identify sites for the refugees.
UNHCR teams continue to urgently assess the immediate needs of the refugees and collect more detailed information on the total number of people who crossed over in Chad. The local governmental agency CNAR (Commission nationale d'Accueil et de Reinsertion des Refugies), in coordination with UNHCR, is deploying teams at the border to immediately register new arrivals.
UNHCR is pre-positioning blankets, jerry cans and food in Guereda. UNHCR and WFP are working closely together to deliver food to 15,000 refugees (5,000 in Tine area, 5,000 in Birak area and 5,000 in Ade/Tisi area). Distribution of sorghum, white beans and corn soya blend is scheduled to start at the beginning of next week.
Meanwhile, relocation of refugees from the volatile border zone to Farchana camp further inland is still underway. So far, 621 people have been transferred in the first three relocation movements last Saturday, Monday and Wednesday from Wandalou, near Adre. The next convoy is planned for Sunday. Convoys will continue every other day, moving an average of 250 people each time. Farchana camp will eventually host between 9,000 and 12,000 people.
At the same time, the site of Kouloungo, near Guereda, has been approved as a relocation site for refugees. UNHCR's partner GTZ will start installations in the camp next week. The camp will host up to 8,000 people. Two other sites are also being evaluated as possible relocation camp sites. Saranh, East of Iriba, could host between 15,000 to 20,000 people, and Hodj, west of Guereda, could host up to 15,000 refugees.
2) TURKEY / IRAQ
We are pleased to announce that Iraqi, Turkish and UNHCR officials on Thursday agreed on the modalities of voluntary return to Turkey from Iraq of up to 13,000 Turkish citizens (ethnic Kurds) who have lived in exile in Iraq since early 1990s. An estimated 9,200 of them are living in Makhmour Camp, near Erbil, while others are living in Dohuk and Erbil areas of northern Iraq.
Under the agreement reached at the Turkish capital, Ankara, the Iraqi authorities will ensure that the return is voluntary and that the refugees are not subjected to pressure. The accord stipulates that UNHCR will have full and unhindered access to the refugees both on Iraq territory and once they have gone back to Turkey.
The Turkish authorities are to ensure that the refugees who volunteer to go back to Turkey are free to return their former places of residence or any other places of their choice within Turkey. Turkey has also agreed to exempt returnees from military duty for six months following the return and to grant Turkish citizenship to refugee children born in exile in Iraq within a reasonable time-frame.
Under the agreement, the Turkish government must notify returning refugees of any possible pending criminal investigations, charges or convictions in absentia that could affect them upon return to Turkey.
3) ASSISTANT HIGH COMMISSIONER TO COLOMBIA, ECUADOR
The growing humanitarian crisis in Colombia and its effects on neighbouring countries will be on the agenda when the UN refugee agency's Assistant High Commissioner, Kamel Morjane, starts a week-long mission to South America this weekend.
Arriving in the Colombian capital, Bogot·, on Saturday, the Assistant High Commissioner will then travel to Colombia's north-western Atrato River region. This area of Colombia was in the news in May 2002 when 117 people were killed in Bojaya after a missile hit a church where local residents had taken shelter during fighting between irregular armed groups. The Atrato River, one of Colombia's main waterways, has suffered since 1996 from an almost complete blockade caused by parties to the country's internal conflict. More than 180,000 people live along the river, mainly indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities that are suffering from a shortage of essential items like medicines, salt, cooking oil, and fuel. Illnesses like malaria are reportedly gaining ground in the region due to the lack of proper treatment as a result of the long blockade.
During his stay in Colombia, Mr. Morjane is expected to meet President Alvaro Uribe and other senior members of the government as well as non-governmental organisations, members of the international community, internally displaced persons associations and other representatives of civil society.
Although the number of new displaced people registered in Colombia in 2003 was lower than the previous year, the scale of displacement continues to grow every day, making this the worst humanitarian crisis in the western hemisphere, and one of the most serious internal displacement situations in the world.
Over one million displaced people were registered by the Colombian government between 2000 and 2003, while unofficial estimates put the total number of displaced since 1985 at three million. Last year, the government registered more than 172,000 new displaced persons.
During his trip, the Assistant High Commissioner will also visit neighbouring Ecuador, where a growing number of Colombians fleeing the conflict are seeking asylum. In the last three years, nearly 21,000 Colombians have applied for refugee status in Ecuador. In 2003 alone, Ecuador received some 11,000 applications for refugee status from Colombian citizens.
In the capital, Quito, Mr. Morjane will recognize Ecuador's compliance with its international obligations and respect for humanitarian principles. In Lago Agrio, one of the most sensitive spots along the Colombian border where, in the past, massive influxes of Colombians have taken place, Mr. Morjane will visit quick impact projects designed to strengthen refugee protection and also benefit the local community.
Media Relations & Public Information
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