Secretary-General's press encounter

Let me start by thanking the Government of Chad for the generous and hospitable way it has received refugees from Sudan. And there are over 200,000 of them here.

And you've seen one of the better camps. We would want all the camps to be like this. And of course this camp has been in existence since March, and we've had time to really set it up. But it's been a very difficult situation. Two out of these bore holes were empty, so it was quite a struggle, but we've managed to ensure that everybody here has water, shelter and enough nutrition.

We will continue our efforts and we will continue to press the international community to give us all the assistance necessary.

[He then repeated the same message in French, before inviting the Chadian Foreign Minister, Nagoum Yamassoum, to speak. He did so in French, and the Secretary-General asked a member of his staff to interpret in English.]

Foreign Minister: I thank the Secretary-General for being here and for his support. We believe that with his presence here, the peace dynamic will move forward, especially at the level of our facilitation efforts. This will not only provide a momentum but it will also assist the international community in its efforts. I am grateful to the Secretary-General for the announcement that he is about to make for an appeal for added support to help not only the refugees but the local people who are sharing the burden.

[The Secretary-General then asked his Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, to make a few remarks.]

Egeland: The 15,000 people who are here have lost everything. They came in February and March to Chad. They were bombed, they were hunted down in the most hideous campaign of terror. Now, they have at least the basics here.

We want to have for the refugees, of which there are about 175,000 in Chad, this kind of standard. We do not have that for everybody, but every week many more thousands are getting this kind of a standard. This is a joint effort of many non-governmental organizations, of which some are here, plus the High Commissioner for Refugees of the United Nations, plus other UN agencies. This is also the kind of standard we should have on the IDP camps in Darfur. We do not have that kind of standard yet but we are trying to do this.

The slogans of the refugees here today that met the Secretary-General was: “Peace Not War”. We're trying to do now our best to achieve that, with the help of Chad. But another important slogan was “Voluntary Returns and Security” and that would be the hardest thing of all, because security is not yet there in Darfur, but we hope it will come gradually to more areas, and it has come to some areas, even of Darfur.

Q: Secretary-General, you've visited the camps of Darfur and now here. Can you share with us the impression you've taken away? And what message will you deliver to President Bashir later today?

SG: That I will tell him first. [laughter]

Let me say that the stories that the refugees are telling and that the internally displaced are telling are the same. They were attacked, they fled aggression, there were serious violations of human rights –gross and systematic ones. And they had to flee for their lives. But they will only return home if there is security –security is paramount for all of them. Of course that will have to be assured before they go back. And in the meantime, nobody should press them or encourage them to go back in a situation that is not secure.

The Government of Sudan has given an engagement that it is going to disarm the Janjaweed and to contain them, and provide security for the population. And it is of course, as I have said in the past, the sacred duty of every government, and of the Sudanese Government, to protect its population. And the international community is insisting on that and we hope that once the Government has been able to carry out its engagement, the people here and in other camps will eventually be able to return.

Q: [translated from the French] Mr. Secretary-General, you're about to leave for Khartoum. After what you have seen here and heard from the Chadian authorities, what are you going to say to [Sudanese] President Bashir?

SG: [translated from the French] Obviously, the essential thing is to make the maximum effort to achieve a political solution. If we succeed, and end the conflict in Darfur, we will solve Chad's problem as well. So a political solution, and negotiation, are very important. And not only that, I would encourage the Sudanese Government to truly protect its population and assure their security so that they can return home as soon as possible, and to work with the Government of Chad to resolve this problem along their common border.

And so this is the message I will deliver to the Sudanese Government.

Q: Has your visit gotten the Sudanese Government to change its position, for example by disarming the Janjaweed militia?

SG: In have already said that the Sudanese Government has made a commitment, a public commitment, regarding the population and the international community, so we are going to insist on that. We will monitor it to be sure that they follow through.