Creating a Safe Haven for Chadians Fleeing Libya

May 24, 2011

Fighting in Libya has caused many thousands of foreigners to flee the country. Many risk their lives doing so.

Humanitarian agencies are setting up a way station in a small, remote mountain town in Chad. It’s the entry point for thousands of Chadian migrants fleeing the conflict in Libya. All the new arrivals need food, water and health care.

The town of Zouarke is little more than a cluster of 20 huts. But one thing it does have is a deep well. And at any given time, hundreds of people may be lined up, waiting for hours, to fill their jerry cans.

Migrants must travel through Niger to get to the town. It’s not the quickest way, but it’s safer. The more direct route is littered with landmines left over from Libya’s sporadic conflict with Chad between 1978 and 1987.

Last week, there were reports from the government that nearly 4,000 migrants has been stranded in Zouarke, unable to travel further into Chad. Upon hearing the news, the International Organization for Migration sent an assessment team and supplies to the town.

Dr. Qasim Sufi, the IOM’s chief of mission in Chad, says the assessment had two goals.

“The first one was to meet the immediate needs of migrants that have arrived at Zouarke. And the second one is to assess the situation to avoid such events to happen in the near future.”