Tens of thousands of displaced live in appalling conditions in CAR - UNHCR

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA)- As insecurity in the Central African Republic (CAR) has uprooted, in less than two months, more than 200,000 people who are internally displaced or refugees in neighbouring countries, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned on Friday that tens of thousands of them are living in appalling conditions.

According to the Refugee Agency, the number of refugees arriving in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has  reached 92,000 and about 13,240 people have fled to Cameroon, Chad and Congo, since the eruption of violence in December 2020 before the presidential election in CAR.

Refugees continue to stream in. About 100,000 people are internally displaced in CAR, according to statistics collected by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Continuing instability hampers humanitarian aid efforts and poses difficulties in accessing IDPs. The main road usually used to supply Bangui has been closed, the UNHCR said at its site.

Armed groups are believed to be in the Batangafo and Bria sites, where displaced communities have found shelter - a clear sign of violation of the humanitarian and civilian nature of these sites.

This presence seriously undermines the protection of IDPs, who risk forced recruitment, restriction of movement, extortion or threats.

In DRC, new arrivals have crossed the Oubangui, Mbomou and Uélé rivers, which form the country's natural border with Central African Republic, and others have arrived in 40 localities within the provinces of Nord-Oubangui, Sud-Oubangui and Bas-Uélé.

Refugees told the UNHCR they fled in panic after hearing gunfire and left all their belongings behind. Most of these refugees live in remote and hard-to-reach areas, near the riverbanks, in appalling conditions, without shelter or food. They depend on fishing in the river and on what the villagers can give them.

Unfortunately, the resources of host communities in these remote areas are extremely limited.

For many, the river is also the only source of water for drinking, washing and food. Malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhoea have become common among the refugees.

UNHCR partners are treating patients and distributing medicines as the need increases. Because of long distances and impassable roads, the delivery of humanitarian aid takes time to reach those in need.

The UN agency is already distributing relief items to the most vulnerable families in South Ubangui province, while additional aid supplies arrived last week in North Ubangui and Lower Uele provinces.

Refugees urgently need food and shelter, clean water, basic necessities, hygiene materials and health care to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other diseases. They also need identity documents.

UNHCR carries out daily biometric registration of nearly 1,000 new arrivals, which helps to identify vulnerable people. It is working closely with the authorities, intensifying registration activities and updating population statistics through registrations.

The UNHCR is pre-positioning relief supplies in Yakoma, North Ubangi Province, before large areas become inaccessible by road due to the imminent arrival of the next rainy season. In six weeks time, the rains will hamper the delivery of aid to refugees in the Bas-Uélé and North Ubangi regions unless air freight is used at considerable cost for which the UNHCR has to raise funds.

Funding for UNHCR's humanitarian aid work is already dramatically low, while the number of refugees and their needs continue to grow.

"Our funding needs for assistance to Central African refugees in 2021 amount to US$151.5 million and are currently funded at only 2%," said an official of the agency, noting that needs are expected to increase further as a result of the latest displacements.

The UNHCR is urgently calling on the international community to mobilise funds so that humanitarian organisations can provide vital assistance to Central African refugees and their hosts.

-0- PANA TNDD/JSG/BBA/AR 29Jan2021