More than 30,000 people were forced to flee the Central African Republic (CAR) due to election-related violence, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov said in a press briefing on Friday
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th January, 2021) More than 30,000 people were forced to flee the Central African Republic (CAR) due to election-related violence, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov said in a press briefing on Friday.
"The UN Refugee Agency is concerned that violence and insecurity surrounding the 27 December general election in the car has forced over 30,000 people to flee into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo," Cheshirkov said.
The CAR held the presidential and legislative election on December 27. The week before the election was marked by violence between the forces backing incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera and supporters of former President Francois Bozize.
Touadera won a second term, but the outcome of the election still needs to be certified by the republic's Constitutional Court.
Inside the country, 185,000 people have fled into the bush and forests since December 15, Cheshirkov said. Some 112,000 have since returned to their homes, but some 62,000 people remain displaced.
Over 24,000 crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nearly 4,400 arrived in Cameroon, a further 2,200 in Chad and about 70 in the Republic of the Congo.
The spokesman said that those displaced to the neighboring countries urgently require humanitarian assistance, including water, sanitation to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and shelter. The UNHCR in coordination with national and local authorities is providing support to the most vulnerable.
According to UNHCR, almost a quarter of CAR's population of 4.7 million was uprooted by the end of 2020.
