Oxfam Evacuates Aid Workers from Chad Capital
4 February 2008
Oxfam has evacuated its international staff from its N'djamena office, following the latest upsurge in fighting in the Chadian capital.
Oxfam media officer Ana Damasio provides an account in this audio clip.
"We had no choice, but to evacuate our staff from N'djamena where the situation has become extremely insecure," said Raphael Sindaye, Oxfam's acting regional director for West Africa. "Some of the evacuated staffers will work from Dakar to support teams continuing to provide life saving humanitarian relief to refugees and internally displaced people in the east of the country."
Oxfam still has its field teams in eastern Chad that continue to supply aid to more than 100,000 people.
The security situation remains very tense and uncertain, and Oxfam teams are closely monitoring the events.
"The movements of our staff have been limited, but we are continuing to deliver our programs in Goz Beida and Goz Amir in Eastern Chad," added Sindaye."We are concerned that if the fighting in N'djamena drags on it could increase insecurity in eastern Chad and hamper the aid effort. N'djamena is an essential supply route for humanitarian goods."
There are nearly half a million people displaced in Eastern Chad. The majority of them are refugees from the conflict in neighboring Darfur, Sudan. Oxfam’s aid effort has been reaching more than 100,000 people in Chad with clean water, safe sanitation, food and public health promotion.
