The return of Central African refugees living in Chad is no longer just an intention. In N’Djamena, the tripartite commission bringing together Chad, the Central African Republic and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees held its very first session. After two days of work, the parties signed the practical arrangements for repatriation, approved the operations timetable and adopted the commission’s rules of procedure.
The text sets out who does what. According to UNHCR, the three partners agreed on their respective responsibilities, on logistical and security arrangements, on procedures for verifying and sharing the lists of those wishing to return, and on how refugees will be kept informed. For Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, the UN agency’s representative in Chad, the meeting marks an important step in implementing the tripartite agreement signed in Bangui two years ago, which had already provided for this commission and a technical working group.
The human stakes are considerable. Chad hosts some 147,000 Central African refugees, mostly in the south of the country, who arrived in successive waves since the early 2000s as violence swept through their homeland. Surveys carried out in the camps showed that around 61,000 of them wanted to return, close to half. UNHCR considers that share encouraging, while acknowledging that the other half prefers, for now, to stay.
Chairing the commission, Chad’s Minister of Social Action, National Solidarity and Humanitarian Affairs, Zara Mahamat Issa, stressed the strictly voluntary nature of the process, recalling the historical, family and economic ties between the two neighbours. Above all, she called for a swift move to the operational phase, underlining the need to mobilise the financial and logistical resources without which the operation would remain on paper. Participants reaffirmed their commitment to a return that is freely chosen, safe and dignified, followed by lasting reintegration in the Central African Republic.
For N’Djamena, the relief is welcome. The country hosts more than 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Sudan, but also from the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Cameroon. The massive influx of Sudanese fleeing war weighs heavily on the east, while camps in the south shelter Central African families who have been settled there for over a decade.
The question remains of what awaits them back home. The Central African Republic has enjoyed relative stability since Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s re-election, but the UN’s representative in Bangui recently warned of rising violence in the east of the country, fuelled by the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. The Security Council is also due to decide in mid-November whether to renew the mandate of MINUSCA, the peacekeeping mission. The areas of return, their safety and access to basic services will weigh heavily on each family’s decision whether or not to take the road back to Bangui.