A visit by Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea to a camp housing thousands of refugees on the border between Chad and Darfur was cancelled today due to ongoing security concerns.
The Limerick TD is on a three-day official trip to the troubled African region to boost morale among 430 Irish troops serving in the year-long Eufor mission. They are stationed at Camp Ciara in Goz Beida.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea meets some of the Irish troops in Chad. Photo: Maxwells/PA Wire
The Irish troops are responsible for protecting and securing the area around refugee camps in the Goz Beida region. Almost 450,000 refugees and internally displaced people have fled the violent conflict in Darfur.
"I am deeply humbled and saddened by what I heard here in Chad regarding the situation within the refugee camps. I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to visit the UNHCR refugee camp and Internally Displaced
Persons' site today," Mr O'Dea said today following meetings with Deputy Force Commander Colonel Derry Fitzgerald and other senior Irish officers.
"This is not an easy trip. The Chief of Staff and I are visiting this mission at a time of unrest in Chad, but it is important that we get on the ground at this time with our troops, to see the difficulties and challenges
they face at first hand," Mr O'Dea said. "I have to say how very impressed I am by the motivation being shown by our troops in the performance of their duties in these difficult circumstances."
Mr O'Dea is accompanied on the visit to Chad by Defence Forces chief-of-staff, Lt Gen Dermot Earley and Department of Defence officials.
The Eufor mission in Chad is mandated to run for a 12-month period until March 2009.
Mr O'Dea has described the operation as one of the most challenging missions ever undertaken by the Defence Forces.
A group of 50 Army Rangers Wing officers and 60 military construction personnel returned home to Ireland last week after a three-month mission in Chad to prepare infrastructure for the main troop contingent.