U.N. evacuates most staff from East Chad

GUEREDA, Chad, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The U.N. mission in eastern Chad has been forced to evacuate most of its staff after recent thefts and escalating security concerns.

Officials say a series of armed attacks including the theft by gunpoint of five vehicles belonging to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and raids by armed men on two separate occasions, led to the decision to evacuate four UNHCR staff and 28 local and international staff.

"(The agency was) left only with one choice, much to our regret, which is to relocate most staff out of the Guereda area, as we cannot continue to perform our activities in favor of refugees," Serge Male, UNHCR's representative in Chad, said in a statement.

Officials say some of those evacuated were flown to Abeche, Chad, and others were part of a convoy of eight vehicles fleeing the U.N. facility in Guereda.

"A minimum amount of staff will remain to ensure there is basic support in the two refugee camps operating in the area. The two camps host almost 30,000 refugees from Sudan's war-wracked Darfur region and have been officially handed over to refugee leaders to manage while UNHCR staff numbers are reduced," the release said.

"In this area, we have a state of complete impunity," Jorge Holly, head of the UNHCR field office in Guereda, said in a statement. "Guereda is getting very vulnerable. If humanitarian workers are not around, it is impossible to provide adequate protection to the refugees. But the situation here is getting out of control and we also have to protect our staff and partners."