Tensions between the 200,000 Sudanese refugees and Chadian host communities remain high.

Reports of defections from the Chadian army have highlighted the risk of transborder tribal ties internationalizing the conflict in Darfur.

However, on 24 September, a delegation composed of the AU, JEM and Chadian co mediators travelled to N'djamena to meet President Idriss Déby.

At Iridimi Camp, three refugees were shot when refugees opposed to a re registration exercise clashed with Chadian police responsible for providing camp security.

The regional spillover effects of this crisis on Chad and the impact of Chadian groups crossing into west Darfur are also cause for great concern.

The total number of military observers on the ground is now 440, broken down as follows African Union, 362 Chadian mediation, 18 Sudanese parties, 46 partners, 14.

As at 1 August 2004, roughly 1.2 million Sudanese were internally displaced in the three Darfur states, and tens of thousands more were forced to seek safety across the Chadian border.

The Office there intervened repeatedly to resolve disputes among refugees and with locals and reached agreement with Chadian authorities to provide a regular police presence, including of female officers, around the camps.

In another worrisome development, a group of Chadian deserters took refuge in the Darfur region, straining relations between the Sudan and Chad and adding yet another destabilizing factor to the complex regional picture.

At Goz Amer camp, a Chadian customs official and three refugees were killed by gunshot wounds sustained in a confrontation ignited by the seizure of plastic sheeting sold by refugees in the camp market.

After a long break since its last meeting in February 2005, the ninth meeting of the Joint Commission established by the N'djamena Protocol of 8 April 2004 was held in the Chadian capital on 13 and 14 October.

It firmly condemns in this context recent attacks perpetrated by armed elements within Chad and in particular the attack on 19 December 2005 on positions of the Chadian national army in the town of Adré, and supports efforts to reduce tensions on the border.