CHAD:The UN Security Council yesterday approved the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Chad and the Central African Republic aimed at protecting civilians from a spillover of the conflict in Darfur.
Under the plan drawn up by France and passed unanimously by the security council, 300 UN police officers will monitor camps accommodating those who have fled the violence in Darfur and internally displaced people.
More than 200,000 Darfur refugees and 173,000 displaced people are currently living in camps in eastern Chad, according to the UN.
The UN police officers will be accompanied by 3,000 European Union troops during the one-year deployment.
The resolution was adopted by the council's 15 members on the same day French president Nicolas Sarkozy opened a security council summit on African conflicts on the fringes of the UN general assembly.
The UN-EU deployment is also designed to improve security conditions for "the delivery of humanitarian aid and the free movement of humanitarian personnel".
Aid organisations have long been demanding protection for refugees and the displaced in Darfur and eastern Chad.
Humanitarian groups in the Central African Republic estimate the number of displaced to be more than 280,000.