The Tama peoples are found in the Ouaddai and Biltine prefectures in Eastern Chad. Ethnologue cites a 1993 census that estimates the Tama population to be 63,000 (1996). According to the Encylopaedia of the Third World, the Tama represented 1.1% of the population of Chad in 1990 (1992, 352).

Tama languages include the Gimr and Jabaal dialects (Ethnologue 1996) and are included among the Ouaddaian languages (ibid.; Chad: A Country Study 1990, 49). For further information concerning the Tama language and other Ouaddian languages, please consult TCD30352E.

The Tama are predominantly agriculturalists living in permanent settlements (Chad: A Country Study 1990, 51; "Tama Facts and Figures", n.d.; "The Tama of North Central Africa", n.d.). Although generally considered to be Muslim, the Tama also incorporate animistic practices in their religion (Decalo 1987, 305; "Facts and Figures, n.d.).

Specific information concerning the political affiliations and rebel group support of the Tama is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. A Reuters report of 20 September 1994 identifies dissident Lieutenant-Colonel Mahamat Garfa, the former leader of the Chadian armed forces who fled N'Djamena with 600 soldiers, as a member of the Tama tribe. An article in the 10 October 1996 issue of La Lettre du Continent describes Garfa's forces as Tama rebel elements from the Fada region (7). For further information concerning Mahamat Garfa's rebel activities and affiliations, please consult TCD27929.E.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Response.

Chad: A Country Study. 1990. Edited by Thomas Collelo. Washington, DC: Secretary of the Army.

Decalo, Samuel. 1987. Historical Dictionary of Chad. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1996. 13th ed. Edited by Barbara F. Grimes. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. [Internet] http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/Chad.html> [Accessed 30 Oct. 1998]

La Lettre du Continent [Paris].10 October 1996. No. 267. "Baroud d'honneur des politico-militaires."

Reuters. 20 September 1994. "Former Chad Army Chief Flees with 600 Troops." (NEXIS)

"Tama Facts and Figures." n.d. [Internet] http://users.mildura.net.au/users/mjackson/Tama/Fact.html> [Accessed 4 Nov. 1998]

"The Tama People of North Central Africa." n.d. [Internet] http://www.premier.net/~bethany/profiles/clusters/8032.html> [Accessed 9 Nov. 1998]

Extremist Groups: An International Compilation of Terrorist Organizations, Violent Political groups, and Issue-Oriented Militant Movements. 1996. Edited by John Murray and Richard H. Ward. Chicago: Office of International Criminal Justice.

Minority Rights Group International. 1997. World Directory of Minorities. The High, Harlow, Essex: Longman Group UK.

Resource Centre country file on Chad. 1996 - 1998.

Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, NEXIS/LEXIS, REFWORLD, WNC.

Unsuccessful attempts to contact three oral sources.