Peter Kelly (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

Since 2004 eastern Chad has hosted some 240,000 Sudanese refugees, who have fled the fighting in Darfur, in 12 camps. In addition, Chad faces a surge in the number of internally displaced persons now totalling more than 170,000. These people have fled attacks, widespread banditry and criminality, and clashes between rebel and government forces on both sides of the porous Chad-Sudan border.

I undertook some research on the region for this debate. This underlined how diverse the region is and the complexity of its surroundings. Chad is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the south west, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "dead heart of Africa". Chad is divided into three major geographical regions — a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad is home to more than 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups making it a cultural melting pot. French and Arabic are the official languages. Islam is the most widely practised religion.

At times in our relatively homogeneous society we forget how diverse other countries can be. Chad is divided into 18 regions. This system came about in 2003 as part of the decentralisation process, when the government abolished the previous 14 prefectures. Each region is headed by a presidentially appointed governor. Prefects administer the 50 departments within the regions. The departments are divided into 200 sub-prefectures, which are in turn composed of 446 cantons. The constitution provides for decentralised government to compel local populations to play an active role in their own development. To this end, the constitution declares that each administrative subdivision be governed by elected local assemblies.

In response to the serious situation in Chad, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution authorising the establishment of a multidimensional mission to provide security and protection for refugees and the displaced, allowing for refugee facilities to return and facilitate humanitarian assistance and Chad and the Central African Republic. The multidimensional presence is mandated to contribute to a more secure environment through monitoring, promotion and protection of human rights and to support efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Central African Republic and the Chadian Governments in meeting international human rights standards. A specific police training element totalling more than 300 personnel will form part of the mission.

Ireland's expected role in the UN mandated EUFORCHAD-RCA mission is welcome. It reaffirms our commitment to humanitarian concerns as the Government plans to increase support for humanitarian and recovery activity in Chad. The recent visit of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, to Chad, during which he visited several camps for internally displaced persons and refugees and met local government and UN representatives, gives us an insight into the seriousness of the situation in the region. We will have an important role to play in this matter because the fragmentation of rebel groups, growing tensions in camps for internally displaced persons and banditry in the countryside are making the tasks facing peace negotiators and humanitarian agencies increasingly difficult. Nobody in the House should doubt that this is a most dangerous mission for our troops.

Since 2002 the stability of Chad has been threatened by armed rebellion arising from clashes between ethnic militia and government forces, incursions by Janjaweed from Sudan and clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs within Chad. The EU military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, entitled EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, was authorised by a joint action of the Council of the European Union on 15 October. In accordance with the mandate set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1778 of 25 September, the joint action included the appointment of Lieutenant General Pat Nash of the Defence Forces as operation commander. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him well on his mission.

Last week the Government authorised the Minister for Defence to arrange, subject to Dáil approval, the despatch of a contingent of up to 14 members of the Defence Forces for services with the EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, making Ireland the second largest contributor to this mission, a fact of which we should be proud.

Lieutenant General Nash, as operation commander, has had primary responsibility for the force generation process, which aims to ensure the mission has the capacity to undertake the tasks envisaged for it by the United Nations. Those tasks are to protect civilians in danger, particularly refugees and displaced persons, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and to protect UN personnel. Ireland fully supports the deployment of EUFOR TCHAD/RCA as a means to address the serious security and humanitarian situation in both eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic, in addition to the broader regional dimensions arising from the Darfur crisis. This will undoubtedly be a challenging matter that should contribute equally to improving overall security and respect for human rights in this fragile region.

It is a difficult mission because Chad is an enormous country that is larger than the UK, Spain, France and Germany combined. Ireland has an established record for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of the Central African Republic and since 2006 Irish Aid has provided over €3.8 million in support of UN agencies. The missions that our troops undertake should not go unappreciated and we must remember that our troops are partaking in missions all over the world seeking to restore and maintain peace in volatile regions.

We celebrated the turning on of the Christmas lights today in Leinster House and at this time of year we should remember our troops serving abroad who will be unable to spend Christmas with their families. I wish to acknowledge the contribution of the troops from Sean Connolly Barracks, Longford, in my own constituency, in the service of the State and long may it continue. Sean Connolly Barracks is the heart and soul of Longford and its members, past and present, are involved in all aspects of life in County Longford including charity, sports and culture. The Army touches everything good in our community.

I thank the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, for his great work in the interest of the nation. This mission will involve risks but such is the humanitarian crisis in the region that we cannot stand idly by. I support the mission because it is grounded in basic human values and I wish all taking part in it well. I trust they will have the support and best wishes of the Irish people.

See this speech in context