United Nations Radio

A first group of eleven refugees from Chad is resettling in the United States.

Refugees from Chad

The programme is part of the United Nations refugee agency's plan this year to resettle refugees living in camps in eastern Chad.

The agency says the group, which left the Chadian capital N'Djamena by air on Sunday, is made up of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic.

UNHCR spokesman, William Spindler, says that throughout this year his agency plans to identify a total of 1,800 cases for resettlement, most of them Sudanese refugees from Darfur living in refugee camps in eastern Chad.

"Chad hosts a total of 250,000 Sudanese refugees from the Darfur region in twelve UNHCR-run camps in the east. In addition, there are 70,000 refugees from the CAR living in five camps in the south of the country. The United States has so far been the first country to promote resettlement from Chad."

The CAR is the Central African Republic.

UNHCR says the next group is expected to depart N'Djamena in early July and will consist of mainly Darfurian refugees from twelve refugee camps in eastern Chad.

Diane Bailey, United Nations.

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