An Open Letter to the President of Chad

Dear President Idriss Deby,

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for agreeing to allow the extension of the mandate for the UN peacekeeping force in eastern Chad for a whole two months. Your generosity, compassion, and concern for the safety of your people and the scores of Darfuri refugees on your soil is truly astounding.

Your sudden call for an end to the MINURCAT mission took many people by surprise. After all, eastern Chad is one of the most challenging humanitarian contexts in the world: Your poorly trained army, many of them child soldiers, provide little in the way of security in this lawless border region near Sudan, which is plagued by local and regional conflict that you helped exacerbate through your self-interested meddling. Darfuris fleeing genocide remain stuck in camps while you've helped prolong instability in their homeland, and hundreds of thousands of Chadians have been displaced by your own army and the rebels -- admittedly nasty in their own right -- protest your authoritarian rule. Displaced civilians repeatedly bear the brunt of this violence, as armed groups of all sorts, including your own national forces, seem particularly fond of the "rape and pillage" approach to warfare.

Humanitarian operations that provide life-saving assistance to the people you've put in precarious situations are subject to increasing attacks, from rebels, bandits, and who knows who else. If MINURCAT leaves, so will much of that presence -- but I'm sure you have a plan in place to provide food, water, medical care, and basic education services to these people. Protecting those within your borders is your primary responsibility as a sovereign government, after all, and I'm sure that's an obligation you don't take lightly.

So really, bravo on the two month extension, and for taking up the UN's energy and attention in vein attempts to appease your every petty demand instead of allowing them to focus on the actual protection of civilians under their auspices. Even more, congratulations in advance for solving all of the problems that have plagued both your country and your neighbors -- refugees from the Central African Republic will be affected by this as well --  for years, training and deploying a professional army respective of human rights, and securing one of the most volatile regions in the world, all in the next two months time.

Your Nobel Peace Prize is surely on its way.

Photo credit: Ray Frenk