When two elephants fight, it is the grass that is injured

The refugee camp near Bahai, called Oure Cassoni, is comprised of an estimated 90% women and children. This camp, which I described previously as a rebel stronghold, has been ordered to be relocated by the government. Although the current location does not meet international standards because of its proximity to the border and the presence of armed groups, the move is not a humanitarian decision; it is a political decision. As I mentioned before, the government has built up a town (the president’s hometown) near the new location anticipating the economic boost and has plans to use the current location as a military base to fortify their presence in eastern Chad.

It has just been confirmed by NGO engineers that the location which the government has designated for the new site does not have enough water to support the estimated 30,000 people. It is now the government’s decision as to how to proceed…whether they look elsewhere or decide to truck in water. The problem of inadequate water exemplifies the humanitarian community’s concern of the new location. It is located on the same latitude further inland, thus inhospitable to any agriculture or means of livelihood. Consequently, there is no exit strategy for humanitarian relief because the population will continue to be entirely dependent on aid.

The process thus far has lacked any transparency. UNHCR has yet to detail who they expect to run various camp functions (i.e. camp management, health, water and sanitation, etc). As difficult as it is for an NGO to plan programs in this context, the larger dilemma is the lack of communication between UNHCR and the refugee population. They have made the announcement but given no further information. The refugees have not been consulted and are, understandably, angry that they will have to move again. Many are saying they will risk the return to Sudan to become internally displaced rather than move further into Chad. The international community currently has no estimation of what percentage will move to the new location and how many will return to Darfur.

Calculating the number of refugees in a given camp is never accurate and is almost always inflated. Because population numbers (and number of family members at the individual level) affects the amount of food aid distributed, refugees find ways to register multiple times, inflate the number of family members they have, and are very reluctant to allow a death to be registered. So it is unlikely that there are actually 30,000 people in the camp now, but the international community must base their planning on this number regardless.

Protection is the official reason the government has cited for the camp’s impending relocation. Although, this is largely a convenient excuse for the government, there does exist numerous protection concerns. Of course, the presence of armed forces in a camp comprised of 90% women and children negates any meaningful efforts at protection. Beyond the obvious, the protection issue has several different aspects in this context.

When the camp is forced to move, the remaining structures pose a protection issue. It is possible that either the government or NGO community will be tasked with bull-dozing the site, as happened in Uganda, to ensure the remaining camp cannot be used for military purposes. This will force refugees to leave, regardless of their will.

Another protection issue is the occurrence of gender based violence (GBV). Rape, forced early marriage, and genital mutilation are believed to be widely prevalent in the camp, though the current monitoring system is inadequate at capturing cases. Genital mutilation is especially taboo.

One case that recently was up for referral in the Bahai hospital was a young girl who had refused her mother’s demand to marry. Her mother apparently tied her up and had a group of young men come beat her. She stayed there for two weeks before she was taken to the hospital. It is difficult to make sense of such actions…I suppose it demonstrates that so much of our behavior is learned.

The chaining of women is especially common here. Our protection team often sees cases of men chaining women by the wrists and ankles to a round cement stone in such a way that women must remain hunched over. The protection team says that women themselves will say it is their husband’s right to physically abuse them. Of course, women do all the work of the household from construction to cooking and collecting firewood, but because men have multiple wives leaving one chained up for days doesn’t mean they will be inconvenienced.

One common scenario is kidnap, rape, and forced marriage. Because the dowry system still governs the tradition of marriage, men have found a way to avoid the cost of taking a bride by kidnapping girls and then raping them. The traditional means of resolving a case of rape is for the families to come together and force the girl to marry the man who raped her. It is believed the girl will not have marriage prospects after she is raped and so must join the rapist’s family.

According to our best estimation, 80% of girls who are victims of forced early marriage result in cases of fistula.

"Our lifespan is too short to become doctors"

Chad is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. For this year, it ranks 175 of 182 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), which ranks according to a range of factors from the macroeconomics of a country to the literacy rate and various health indicators.

The adult illiteracy rate in Chad is about 74%.

If you are Chadian, you are not likely to reach your 51st birthday.

Infant mortality is 124/1,000 live births. Child mortality (under five years of age) is 209/1,000 live births. Maternal mortality is 1,500/100,000 live births. The doctor to person ratio is estimated to be 1 doctor to 30,000 people in Chad.

Compare these statistics to those of the United States, which ranks 13 on the HDI.

Life expectancy is 79 years, infant mortality is 7/1,000 live births, and maternal mortality is 11/100,000 live births.