Chad: Refugees from CAR transferred to new site in south

In southern Chad earlier this week, we started transferring some 6,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) who had been living temporarily on an extension of a site at Amboko refugee camp since June 2005, to a new site at Dosseye, some 30 km from Goré, the main southern town. So far 1,538 refugees have been transferred and the rest are expected to move over the next few days. Any new arrivals from the border will now be transferred directly to this new site which can host up to 10,000 people and has space for each family to cultivate land.

The refugees have moved to the new site where they will have better access to water, a health centre, security and a school. The first group of refugees were welcomed by the local authorities who said they could count on the hospitality of the local population. They were asked to respect the laws and traditions of the region as well as the natural resources.

UNHCR is working closely with the government refugee body the CNAR (Commission Nationale d'Accueil et de Réinsertion des Réfugiés) and its operational partners Care, Africare, MSF, and COOPI during the relocation operation. Each day, two convoys of six trucks and two vehicles for vulnerable people, carrying around 300 refugees, leave Amboko to transfer refugees to Dosseye.

The extension of Amboko site where the refugees were living was agricultural land belonging to the local population and was used only as a provisional measure to house the refugees fleeing insecurity in CAR. Most of the refugees arrived between June and December 2005.

There are some 45,000 refugees from CAR in southern Chad now in four sites in Amboko, Yaroungou, Gondjé and Dosseye.