We support renewed French efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in eastern Chad. The UK has long supported the proposal for a UN deployment to Chad, including through adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1706, and welcomes initial preparatory work in this direction by the UN Secretary-General. The UK is prepared to consider other proposals to move the situation forward, including the possibility of an EU role, although no formal request for such a role has yet been made and force numbers have not been discussed.
We remain very concerned about the humanitarian and security situation in eastern Chad. We are particularly concerned about: increasing levels of internal displacement due to inter-ethnic fighting and cross-border attacks from Darfur; the protection of refugees and internally displaced people; the security environment for humanitarian agency operations; and the fragility of the natural resource base to support displaced populations. We and our international partners continue to urge the Chadian government to accept a UN mission.