More than 400 civilians rendered jobless by the departure of French troops from Chad are asking the government to hire them and provide the job benefits they had when they worked for the French. The last French troops left Chad on January 31, following an order by President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.
Chadian officials say hundreds of civilians who were employed by the French assembled in the capital N'djamena on Monday to ask the government to immediately give them jobs.
French forces departed Chad at the order of the central African state’s president, Field Marshal Mahamat Idriss Deby.
The last French troops left the country on Friday after handing over the Kossei military base in N'djamena, which they had occupied for about 70 years. Earlier, French forces handed over two other bases at Faya-Largeau and Abeche.
Mbaitoubam Bruno, the spokesperson for civilians who worked at the French military bases, spoke to VOA from N'djamena via a messaging app. He said Chad's government should immediately recruit them because at least half of the over 400 Chadians who lost their jobs as French troops departed are already in precarious situations that do not permit them to support their families.
Mbaitoubam added that it is imperative for Chad's government to guarantee the security and social well-being of all former workers at French military bases by making sure each and every one of them has a job.
The former workers mostly held jobs in hospitals, schools and dining facilities that served the French troops. Others provided humanitarian assistance to those who lived around the bases.
Mbaitoubam said a majority of the workers were asked to leave French military bases on November 28 when Chad announced an end to military cooperation with France.
The workers say they have remained without jobs and salaries and cannot take care of their medical bills.
Aziz Mahamat Saleh is a member of a Chadian commission overseeing the dismantling of military agreements between Paris and N'Djamena. He is also Chad's former communications minister and government spokesman.
He said Chad's president, Field Marshal Mahamat Idriss Deby, ordered the commission to make a census of all civilians who worked with French troops in three bases at Kossei, Faya-Largeau and Abeche. He says after the census, the commission will propose a list of workers whose services are needed to the government of Chad for recruitment.
Mahamat spoke on Chad's state TV. He said Deby has asked health and humanitarian workers to continue working in hospitals formerly controlled by French troops.
He said he was pleading with the former workers to have confidence in their government, which he said is doing everything possible to protect their rights and provide jobs despite the difficult economic situation the country is facing.
The workers say that under the French, they earned an average salary of more than 130 dollars per month.
Before leaving Chad last week, General Pascal Ianni, the commander of French forces in Africa, told Chadian state TV that their departure was abrupt. Paris has not said anything concerning the former workers, Chad's government says.
The workers say the decision to order out the French may have been patriotic for the government, but that it undermined their well-being, and did not take into consideration the needs of several thousand civilians who had health care and education thanks to the French troops’ presence.
