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Thousands of Chadian refugees in Cameroon still afraid to return home

February 28, 2008

By pwrdf

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Cameroon: ACT News Update

Geneva, — A representative in Chad from ACT member, Lutheran World Federation (LWF), says thousands who fled the capital of N’djamena into neighboring Cameroon following the early February fighting between government troops and rebels are afraid to return home citing fears over security, especially under the current state of emergency.

“Churches, houses and hospitals in Kousseri have been filled to capacity trying to cope with the influx,” says Mr. Jaap Aantjes, the Chad-based East Africa regional supervisor for LWF, which has been heading the joint ACT International response in eastern Chad since the operation began in July 2007.

Mr. Aantjes, who visited the northern Cameroon border town of Kousseri from February 14-20, says large groups of refugees were still camping in open public places awaiting processing with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for accommodation in camps under construction.

The attack on the capital left an estimated 160 people dead, many wounded and thousands displaced. After the Chadian army repulsed the rebels, the government declared in mid-February a 15-day nation-wide state of emergency.

At the height of the turmoil, an estimated 30,000 Chadians sought refuge in Kousseri’s churches, houses and hospitals according to UNHCR and the Cameroon Red Cross. With relative calm since restored, many have returned home, and the number of those sheltering in churches in northern Cameroon had reduced from over 6,500 to around 3,000 refugees at the time of the LWF visit.

LWF is working with its member church, the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon (EFLC), to provide relief assistance to the refugees. EFLC president, Rev. Robert Goyek Daga, says the LWF member church in conjunction with other churches moved in quickly to respond to the situation in northern Cameroon with their limited resources, but external support is still required.

The early February security situation had resulted in the scaling back of operations in eastern Chad and the temporary reduction of staff persons, but normal work has resumed, including the completion of a mission to the south to assess the situation of refugees from the Central African Republic.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International members are supporting 45,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Chad with assistance including camp management, psychosocial care, and support to host communities surrounding the Habile and Aradib camps in the border area with Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.  PWRDF is a member of ACT.

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