MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2021) The number of people who were forced to flee the Central African Republic (CAR) amid a surge in election-related violence has surpassed 200,000, with tens of thousands facing dire conditions, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.
The car held the presidential and legislative elections on December 27. In the week leading up to the election, violence erupted between the forces backing incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera and supporters of former President Francois Bozize, prompting thousands of people to flee their homes.
"As insecurity in the Central African Republic (CAR) has displaced more than 200,000 people within the country and in neighbouring states in less than two months, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning that tens of thousands are facing dire conditions," the agency said in a press release.
UNHCR added that the continuing volatility in the country hampered the agency's humanitarian response and made access to the internally displaced more difficult, with the main road used to bring supplies being shut.
"Most refugees are living in dire conditions in remote, hard-to-reach areas close to the rivers without basic shelter and facing acute food shortages. They are dependent on catching fish and on what the local villagers can spare. Unfortunately, the host communities in these remote areas have extremely limited resources," the agency said.
With the funding for UNHCR's humanitarian response already critically low, the agency urged the international community to mobilize funds so that humanitarian organizations can deliver assistance to the Central African refugees and the countries hosting them.
