Over 200,000 displaced by battle in Central African Republic, says UNHCR
2 min read Conflict within the Central African Republic (CAR) has displaced greater than 200,000 individuals since violence erupted over a December election end result, the UN refugee company (UNHCR) stated on Friday.
Nearly half of these fleeing crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo, the company stated.
“Refugee arrivals into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have reached 92,000 according to local authorities and some 13,240 people have crossed into Cameroon, Chad, and the Republic of Congo, since violence erupted in December 2020 ahead of CAR’s general elections,” the assertion stated.
Some 100,000 individuals stay internally displaced throughout the nation.
“The continuing volatility has hampered the humanitarian response and made access to the internally displaced more difficult,” the company stated.
The CAR military, backed by UN Russian and Rwandan troops, has been battling rebels in search of to overturn a December 27 vote during which President Faustin-Archange Touadera was declared the winner.
“Refugees have told UNHCR that they fled in panic when they heard gunshots, leaving their belongings behind,” spokesman Boris Cheshirkov instructed journalists in Geneva.
Vast distances and very poor highway circumstances imply that humanitarian help takes time to achieve individuals in want, the UNHCR stated.
The resource-rich nation, with a inhabitants of 4.7 million, has struggled to search out stability since a 2013 riot ousted former president Francois Bozize. The nation performs host to huge sources of gold, diamonds, uranium and oil.
In 2019, Bozize returned to CAR and introduced his supposed candidacy for the elections, however the Constitutional Court dominated that he didn’t fulfill the “good morality” requirement, over official allegations of torture and assassinations.
