Brussels — The European Union's peacekeeping force in Chad is "ill-suited" to deal with the banditry and criminality that is plaguing the country's refugees, the anti-poverty group Oxfam has stated.

In March this year, a 3,700-strong mission was declared operational by the EU and has subsequently been deployed in Chad. Known as EUFOR, the force has been granted a mandate by the United Nations to protect civilians in danger, particularly those displaced by conflict, and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

In a report published last week, Oxfam found that although refugees have credited EUFOR with bringing greater security, it lacks the power to satisfy the country's policing needs. Beatings, the theft of livestock, robberies in refugee camps and rape are among the problems faced by civilians in eastern Chad on a daily basis.

EUFOR's limitations have been exposed by the refusal of the governor of the eastern town Abeche to allow its personnel patrol the town at night, even after a staff member with the Red Cross organisation was shot in July. This is in contrast to the situation in Goz Beida, close to the country's border with Sudan, where EUFOR has been undertaking patrols following clashes between armed groups and forces loyal to the Chadian government.

Sally Chin, author of the Oxfam report, said that EUFOR is "ill-suited" to deal with banditry and criminality.

Her colleague Elise Ford, a specialist in humanitarian affairs with the group's Brussels office, said that the EU has "considerable influence" in Chad and a "lot of potential" to improve the security situation. But EUFOR has "not been able to protect civilians" in the way that is necessary, she added.

Ford argued that the EU and the wider international community should pay particular attention to the role played by the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT). It has been tasked with helping to improve Chad's justice system by providing training to police, and education about human rights.

Formed a year ago, MINURCAT is supposed to train an 850-strong Chadian police and gendarme unit to provide full-time security for the refugee camps in the east. So far, however, only 320 of these have been trained, and none have been deployed. "This sort of delay isn't acceptable in a situation of insecurity," said Ford.

She also argued that 850 police officers would not be sufficient to deal with the scale of the problem in Chad. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), about 250,000 people uprooted from violence in the Sudanese province of Darfur are sheltered in 12 camps across the Chadian border. A further 180,000 Chadians have been displaced as a result of long-running violence within the country.

The UNHCR has warned that the "security situation in Chad developed from worrying to lethal in 2006 and has continued at a similar pace in 2007 and 2008."

EU officials say there are no immediate discussions foreseen in Brussels about how the Union can contribute to the policing needs in Chad. A diplomat representing one of the 14 countries that has contributed forces to EUFOR said that the mission is intended to provide "wide-area security".

"It is not there to be a police force," the diplomat added.

Pat Nash, the Irish general who is commanding EUFOR, has estimated that it needs up to 20 helicopters to perform its duties. But because many EU states have committed military aircraft to Afghanistan, he has had to look for commitments from outside the Union. Last week Russia agreed to provide four helicopters and 200 troops. EUFOR has been below its capacity for much of the year but is due to reach it this week with the deployment of additional troops from Poland.

Before the deployment of EUFOR, many concerns were expressed by some members of the European Parliament and by human rights activists about how the dominant position of French troops in it could call into question its impartiality.

France has been known to have helped shore up the regime of Chad President Idriss Deby in the past. Through an agreement with Chad dating from 1976, France already has a sizeable military presence in capital N'Djamena and the eastern town of Abeche. When Deby succeeded in repelling an attack by the rebel United Front for Democracy and Change in 2006, he did so thanks to logistical and intelligence support from France.

Oxfam's Chin said that the concerns about neutrality arising from "the overwhelmingly French nature of the force" have diminished but that she remained worried about how EUFOR may handle any outbreaks of fighting that could arise in the traditionally tense period that will follow the rainy season later this year.

Through an agreement with Chad dating from 1976, France already has a sizeable military presence in capital N'Djamena and in Abeche. Oxfam found that some civilians in Abeche confused the French troops already in the country with the newer arrivals from EUFOR. It recommended that an information campaign should be launched in Chad to explain the mandate given to the EU mission.