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Chad: Ban Ki-Moon Arrives to Press for Protection of Refugees

Aiming to press for an international presence to help protect refugees and displaced persons in Chad, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon arrived today in the capital, N'djamena, where he held talks with the country's President.

Mr. Ban began his day with a briefing on the humanitarian situation, in particular in eastern Chad, which is home to thousands of displaced persons as well as refugees fleeing the crisis in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan, spokesperson Michele Montas told the press in New York.

The focus of the Secretary-General's visit to Chad is to move forward with the Government on plans for an international military and police presence to protect refugees and internally displaced persons in eastern Chad, and to seek the direct support of the Government for the upcoming Darfur peace talks to be held in Libya since it is an important regional player in ensuring that all parties participate.

Mr. Ban also wanted to call attention to the problem of desertification through a visit to Lake Chad, which measured 26,000 square kilometres in the 1960s and which has shrunk to only some 1,500 square kilometres, according to the spokesperson. He met with several officials, including President Idriss Déby. The two held a working lunch before Mr. Ban visited Lake Chad by helicopter.

The Secretary-General came from Khartoum, where the UN yesterday issued a joint communiqué with the Sudanese Government on the deployment of a hybrid African Union-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur (to be known as UNAMID).

Today marked Mr. Ban's first official visit to Chad. The Security Council has indicated its willingness to authorize a multidimensional UN presence to support a European Union force in the east of the country and in the Central African Republic (CAR), which have both been plagued by clashes between rebels and Government forces and by the spillover from the Darfur conflict.

Source: United Nations