Bid to end Chad's refugee riots

By Martin Plaut
BBC correspondent in Chad

These Darfur refugees in Chad are gathering straw to sell to the local population

A high-powered delegation of international aid workers and Chad officials has failed to end protests by refugees from Sudan's Darfur region.

Following riots over the weekend, aid agencies pulled out of two camps, housing some 50,000 Sudanese refugees.

The unrest was apparently sparked when a Japanese environmental agency asked the refugees to plant trees.

The refugees took this as a sign that they would stay in Chad permanently, instead of returning to Darfur.

They want to go home, once their security can be guaranteed, and not become exiles.

Craig Sanders, the head of the UN's operation in eastern Chad, said a hard core of men have been blocking progress in Farchana camp.

He warns that if the crisis continues much longer, the food, health and water supplies in the camps could collapse, leaving tens of thousands at risk.