Military

DATE=07/08/2005

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CHAD/REFUGEES (L-Only)

NUMBER=2-325784

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

HEADLINE: UNHCR Must Move Flood-Threatened Refugees in Chad

INTRO: The U.N. refugee agency says it must urgently relocate about 10-thousand refugees in Chad before the rainy season begins. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

TEXT: The refugees fled unrest in the Central African Republic over a three-week period in early June. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says they have been living in difficult conditions around 17 villages in southern Chad's Gore area.

With the onset of the rainy season, UNHCR Spokesman Ron Redmond says, it is absolutely urgent that the 10-thousand refugees be moved to a single location, to ease distribution of humanitarian assistance. He says flooding already is beginning to make it difficult to move around in the region.

/// REDMOND ACT ///

"Already, some of the roads have turned into rivers. We have photographs, for example, of people trying to reach our stockpiles to get assistance. They are in water up to their waists and chests, just going down roads and crossing rain-swollen rivers. So, it is already starting, and it will not be possible to reach all 17 villages, once the rainy season really starts."

/// END ACT ///

The UNHCR says it is trying to persuade the Chadian authorities to let aid workers move the refugees to a camp near Gore, which already houses 13-thousand refugees, also from the Central African Republic.

Mr. Redmond says the newly arrived refugees are staying in makeshift sites in extremely difficult conditions. He says the aid group, Doctors Without Borders, reports there are serious concerns about a measles outbreak, and that malaria is widespread.

/// 2ND REDMOND ACT ///

"Out of 20 blood tests administered on Wednesday to a group of refugees in one of the villages, 19 proved positive for malaria. There are also fears of a possible cholera outbreak. This is because of worries about inadequate sanitation and water. Malnourishment is starting to have fatal consequences. A child diagnosed with kwashiorkor some days ago died Wednesday in Amboko hospital."

/// END ACT ///

Chad is hosting an estimated 30-thousand refugees from the Central African Republic. The majority of them arrived in 2003 after a military coup.

Mr. Redmond says his agency has distributed blankets and plastic sheets to the refugees stuck along the border. More staff and supplies are on the way. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/TW