Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Tuesday, 27 February 2007.

Chad: Refugees

Question: My Lords, did the FCO mission ascertain whether the Governments of Chad and the CAR had agreed to the deployment of the multinational mission in their respective countries, as has now been recommended by the secretary-general? If it does go ahead, will the UK seek to ensure that, unlike in Darfur, its strength and terms of engagement are adequate to protect civilians at risk, including both internally displaced persons and refugees?

Answer: My Lords, there would be a significant difference between this deployment and that in Darfur. The deployment in Darfur has been undertaken by the African Union and had a relatively restricted mandate—even so, that mandate was arguably not fully used. In Chad, there would be a UN deployment. There have been mixed signals from the Governments of the region about whether they would welcome any kinds of deployment, but I believe that the secretary-general is quite right in saying that for this crisis to be resolved the deployment must be underpinned by adequate funding in order to ensure that there are enough people with enough logistical support and enough of the materials to secure peace over a long period.

Secondary information