Mounting unrest in east threatens aid effort, WFP says

Mounting violence in eastern Chad, which aid workers say has forced thousands of Chadians from their homes, "could seriously impede" humanitarian relief efforts in the region, where aid groups are assisting nearly a quarter-million refugees from Sudan’s Darfur conflict, the UN food aid agency said on Friday. The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a communique that unrest is hindering efforts to evaluate how dire the situation is for families recently displaced by violence. “We are at an extremely delicate stage in Chad – right on the edge,” said Stefano Porretti, Chad country director for WFP, which is providing food for more than 207,000 men, women and children who have fled Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region. Violence from the Darfur conflict has repeatedly spilled over into eastern Chad, but the instability has increased in recent months with incursions by various armed groups and – just last week - fighting between Chad forces and rebels holed up in a mountainous area straddling the border. One aid worker said at least 25,000 Chadians have been displaced by the latest unrest. And the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said late last month that some Chadians were fleeing over the border into Darfur. WFP called the fresh population movements “worrying”. While an initial WFP assessment found that Chadians in the border zone have substantial foods stocks thanks to a good harvest, “there are very real fears that people would soon require essential humanitarian assistance,” WFP says, adding, “it is difficult to assess the magnitude of needs because of current insecurity”. “The longer the insecurity in the area persists, the more serious the situation will become,” Porretti said in the WFP statement. “Most people affected by the recent violence have enough food for another month or two, but after that, things are far less certain.” In recent months aid workers have had to temporarily evacuate certain posts serving some of the 12 refugee camps, and UNHCR is looking to move about 16,000 refugees from one camp farther into Chad because of increasing insecurity. Conditions for refugees and the increasingly burdened local population are all the more worrying with the approach of the lean season and the rains, expected in June, which each year swallow up many of the region’s roads, cutting off access to refugees. Porretti said WFP’s operation for the refugees is “clinging on by its fingertips” financially, adding that new needs created by the fresh violence will require more donor support.