UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his deep concern Thursday over the impact of rebel activity in eastern Chad, which has thwarted access of humanitarian workers to the hundreds of thousands of people uprooted from their homes by violence.
Ban said in a report that "the civilian character of refugee camps and internally displaced persons sites continues to be compromised by the presence of armed elements in and around the camps."
He said that the tenuous security situation has hindered access by aid agencies, especially since the May 1 killing of Pascal Marlinge, the Country Director for the non-governmental organization Save The Children, who was shot by bandits while traveling in a three-vehicle convoy on the road between the towns of Farchana and Adre.
"I reiterate my condemnation of this criminal act and urge all parties to grant unrestricted access to humanitarian workers in eastern Chad," the Secretary-General said.
The conflict in the country can only be resolved through a two-track approach: "real political dialogue" between the Chadian government and armed and non-armed opposition groups, and an improvement in the relationship between N'Djamena and Khartoum, the capital of neighboring Sudan.
"The United Nations stands ready to work together with the African Union and other partners in supporting efforts to restore lasting peace and security along the Chad-Sudan border," the report noted.
The report was Ban's latest on the multidimensional UN presence in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central Africa Republic, known as MINURCAT, which was created last year by the UN Security Council in a bid to quell humanitarian suffering.
Source:Xinhua
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