We might be hearing a lot more about it in the coming months.
On March 15, the European Union-led EUFOR mission in eastern Chad reached the end of its one-year mandate. As a result, command of peacekeeping was turned over to the UN Mission in Chad and Central African Republic (MINURCAT), previously an implementing partner with EUFOR over the past year. While EUFOR consisted of about 3,500 peacekeepers, MINURCAT is set to deploy around 5,000 total troops and police at full force. While the immediate impact of this power transfer was minimal—essentially, a couple thousand people changed the color of their hats to blue—the longer-term impact may be considerable.
MINURCAT’s main responsibility—like EUFOR before it—is to protect humanitarian operations, internally displaced Chadians, and refugees crossing the border from Darfur. The border region between eastern Chad and Darfur is notoriously known for attacks on civilians from both sides, as well as a staging and recruitment ground for various rebel movements.
And with the hand-over, we’re hearing familiar things. The UN force that is replacing EUFOR is not up to full strength, and is not expected to be until the end of 2009. This problem is, of course, exacerbated by the fact that UNAMID, its counterpart in Darfur, has also not reached its full deployment levels. This situation creates a potentially dangerous power vacuum in an area that is already unstable.
Making matters worse, the decision by the Sudanese government to expel aid workers responsible for the care of some 4.7 million internally displaced Darfuris may trigger a mass-migration from Darfur into eastern Chad, thereby overwhelming already-taxed humanitarian agencies and security forces in the region. This could potentially put hundreds of thousands of refugees in a vulnerable, concentrated space with an incapable aid system and a faltering security force.
With a weakened UNAMID on one side of the border and a weakened MINURCAT on the other, refugees and IDPs from both countries may be left with little protection and no options. The resulting humanitarian nightmare could further destabilize the entire region—vastly increasing the danger to civilians, peacekeepers, and neighboring nations. As UNHCR representative Serge Male states, “Darfur creates the earthquake that impacts the whole region.”
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
