Chad - The explosion of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) in December 2013 displaced over a million people both internally and to neighbouring countries.

The neighbouring country of Chad has received the highest number of returnees, refugees and Third Country Nationals (TCNs), with IOM Chad registering over 109,000 new arrivals to date.

But many Chadians migrants remain stranded in neighbouring Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville. In the past two months, IOM, in coordination with the governments of Chad, Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville, has organized the safe return of some 1,500 Chadians who fled CAR and were subsequently stranded in Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville.

They included some 20 unaccompanied and separated children, whom IOM referred to UNICEF, which will carry out tracing and family reunification in Chad.

Some 1,350 Chadian migrants were evacuated from Cameroon by three IOM road convoys that arrived in Chad on 23rd July, 8th and 21st August 2014. Another 150 were flown back to Chad from Congo Brazzaville with three IOM charter flights that arrived in Chad on 24th, 25th and 26th August 2014.

The road convoys faced logistical challenges in reaching remote areas such as Libongo and Yokadouma in Cameroon, with bad road conditions and heavy rain. Trucks had to be used for the first part of the journey, followed by buses to complete the five-day journey to Djako in Chad. 

A reception site supported by IOM, WFP, UNICEF and IRC was established in Djako, which is located 40kms from the Chadian town of Moundou. IOM is responsible for shelter and site management, WFP provides food, UNICEF takes care of water and sanitation, and IRC is responsible for health.

The returnees from Congo Brazzaville flew into the Chadian capital of N’Djamena and were transported by road to Djako by IOM.

As part of the post-arrival assistance package, IOM conducts registration, profiling, movement intention surveys and displacement tracking of all returnees arriving in Chad. The data is shared with the national authorities and the humanitarian country team through UNOCHA for planning and execution of both emergency and longer term responses.

“The biggest challenge now is to help the returnees to reintegrate in their preferred destinations. Most of them left Chad long ago or were born in the CAR and therefore have lost all ties with their communities of origin,” says IOM Chad Chief of Mission Dr. Qasim Sufi.

IOM Chad has developed and is seeking funding for reintegration, psychosocial support and social cohesion projects for both the returnees and host communities in areas of high return in Chad.

For more information, please contact
Dr. Qasim Sufi
IOM Chad
Email: qsufi@iom.int
Tel. +235 62900674.