Chad: the relay is being prepared between EUFOR and Minurcat II
(BRUSSELS2) For the EU military mission (Eufor) in Chad and the Central African Republic, the coming months will be punctuated by the handover to the UN force (Minurcat II). Staff are being recruited at the UN and could begin to be deployed in early February (a chief has just been appointed). The objective is to ensure a “smooth” transition with EUFOR and to prepare for the reception of additional troops.
This transition will not be as easy as hoped. Because, for the moment, few countries - apart from those participating in Eufor - have hastened to make offers. And the humanitarian and security situation remains precarious. While relations with Sudan remain unstable. Two Eufor vehicles were thus destroyed by the Sudanese. In the Birak area, two Sudanese Mi24 helicopters opened fire on November 15 on a Eufor patrol, without causing any casualties. It should be noted that a donor conference will be held in early 2009 in Brussels to endow the trust fund, in particular to train the new Chadian security force - the Integrated Security Detachment (DIS) - whose government intends to double effective.
The precarious humanitarian and security situation
Military deterrence needed against banditry. “Thefts from occupied cars, armed robberies and crimes targeting humanitarian personnel and Chadian citizens and refugees have continued. Attacks by heavily armed bandits constitute the most immediate and constant threat weighing on the civilian population and humanitarian operations,” explains Ban Ki Moon’s report published in early December. “This is a threat of a criminal nature, manifested primarily through the use of military armaments, including heavy weapons. Countering this threat requires more than policing: military deterrence is needed. When this is not enough, military intervention is necessary. ". Repeated attacks. The Sam Oundja refugee camp which houses 3 refugees from Darfur was attacked by an unidentified armed group on 000 November. Following this attack, EUFOR evacuated nine aid workers to Birao. The Birak area is also tense. Villages around the city were attacked at the beginning of November, killing 8 and destroying 8 houses (out of 240). Lasting support. It is estimated that around 300 people are currently receiving assistance. “Without sufficient security conditions, refugees are unlikely to return to their places of origin. They will therefore continue to depend to a large extent on external assistance.”
UN force concept
Larger area of operations.
The UN force would take over the missions of Eufor — preventing hostilities, reassuring the civilian population, improving the delivery of humanitarian assistance, ensuring the protection of United Nations personnel and installations — but in an area operations, and with additional responsibilities, including ensuring security conditions conducive to the recently engaged deployment of a lightly armed integrated security detachment (DIS).
The workforce will therefore be higher than that of Eufor
4900 men asked the general secretary. Below the first figure of 6000 announced by the UN. But above what the Chadian authorities wanted. They in fact refused the deployment of too large a force, accepting first 3000 then 3500 men, 4500 and finally 4900 men, after negotiation between Déby and the UN Secretary General in Doha. (the EU force has about 3700 men). Six sites in Chad, the UN force will be spread over six sites (at the rate of a half-battalion of approximately 400 men per site), initially Iriba, Guéréda, Farchana and Goz Beida (Eufor sites) , and subsequently Bahai and Koukou-Goz Amer (two sites to be created), and should be able to carry out “24 daily security patrols”. A memorandum of understanding should formalize the agreement between the UN and the Government of Chad on the transfer to MINURCAT of the use of all EUFOR sites, as well as the related infrastructure and, above all, the rights relating to the drilling and the use of water wells.
Mobile reserve.
A mobile reserve, the size of a battalion (800 men), will have to ensure a capacity to increase in power in the event of a new threat. All supported by 18 helicopters. Light secondment in the Central African Republic. The presence of Minurcat II will be reduced in the country. A small military detachment of about fifteen officers could suffice, charged " liaise with local authorities and key stakeholders, maintain situational awareness, and assess the condition of the Birao airfield and determine necessary maintenance work ". Indeed, both on the side of Eufor and the UN, it is estimated that there is no lasting and major threat in this region. The main risks are located in the north-west and south-east of the country (which would suppose both a change of mandate for Minurcat II and more substantial forces between 500 and 1000 men).
Slow rise in power.
The sector battalions, the reserve force, as well as the logistical support, the transport force (road and air), the medical capacity will be based in Abéché during the first transition phase. Deployments of troops and equipment will be extremely limited during the rainy season. Full strength will not be reached until October 2009. That is the same time taken by Eufor to gain momentum (one may wonder why so much time, when the UN has had more than a year to prepare). French logistical support? "In extremis support" may be requested from certain UN member states "to ensure the safety and security of United Nations personnel and installations", as well as logistics, "in the event that the United Nations force would not be in a position to deal with the situation" (one thinks of course of France and its Operation Epervier which will, in this case, be the best able to provide this support).
A force established over time.
Six criteria have been set by the UN to end Minurcat II. Criteria, logical, but which, given the situation on the spot, augur a long presence of the UN force:
- (a) Voluntary return and resettlement in safe conditions of a critical mass of displaced persons;
- (b) Demilitarization of camps for refugees and displaced persons, evidenced by a reduction in the presence of arms, violence and human rights violations;
- (c) Capacity of local authorities to adequately protect refugees, internally displaced persons, civilians and humanitarians;
- (d) Capacity of national police bodies to maintain public order by upholding international human rights standards;
- e) Gradual establishment of an independent and effective judiciary in eastern Chad, contributing to ending impunity, as evidenced by a significant increase in the resources and independence of the justice sector, and the respect shown from his view;
- (f) Reinforced prison system in eastern Chad, based on a prison administration that respects human rights.
It should be noted that in addition to the UN force, a peace and security force (FPS) - Chadian-Sudanese - would be deployed along the border between Chad and Sudan, with the establishment of posts observation, Chad and Sudan should each deploy a thousand soldiers to their respective borders.
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