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Summary

The political and security situation in Chad is volatile. Ethnic clashes, banditry, and fighting between government forces and rebel groups, both Chadian and Sudanese, have contributed to a fragile security situation in the east. The instability has forced over 180,000 Chadians from their homes in the past three years. An additional 30,000 fled to neighboring Cameroon during a February 2008 rebel attack on the capital city. In addition to the internal displacement, over 300,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan's Darfur region have fled violence in their own countries and now live in refugee camps in eastern Chad. With Chadian security forces stretched thin, the threat of bandit attacks on the camps and on aid workers has escalated. The instability has also impacted some 700,000 Chadians whose communities have been disrupted by fighting and strained by the presence of the displaced. The United Nations and the European Union have deployed a multidimensional presence in Chad and the CAR to improve regional security so as to facilitate the safe and sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons. This report will be updated as events warrant. Chad, a landlocked country roughly twice the size of Texas, has had a turbulent history of religious and ethnic conflict and intermittent civil war in its 40 years of independence. Bordered by Libya to the north and Sudan to the east, it is considered to be among the world's ten poorest countries, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Index. Persistent conflict has hindered the country's development, despite significant oil reserves. One in five children dies before the age of five. Chad also is perceived to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world.1 Foreign Policy magazine has ranked Chad fourth on its index of failed states.2

Related Legislation:
• S.40
• S.2

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