United Nations Radio

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) announced on Tuesday that more than 100,000 Sudanese refugees over the age of 18 in eastern Chad will receive identity cards.

Sudanese refugees

UNHCR says the new programme to issue the cards, which are the equivalent of a "refugee passport", started on Monday with the distribution of the first cards in a symbolic ceremony in Gaga refugee camp near Abeche.

Local authorities and the Chadian government's refugee commission participated in the ceremony.

The cards allow the Sudanese refugees to move freely within Chad, in accordance with the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees.

UNHCR says the refugees have warmly welcomed the ID cards, printed by the agency and issued by the government, and now feel protected and fully accepted in Chad.

Diane Bailey, United Nations Radio.

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