More than 2,000 people from the northern Central African Republic (CAR) had to look for refuge in Chad over the past week as violence in their home country escalated after elections, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th April, 2021) More than 2,000 people from the northern Central African Republic (CAR) had to look for refuge in Chad over the past week as violence in their home country escalated after elections, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
Tensions in the African nation's north grew last December when militants, who control two-thirds of CAR,� accused President Faustin Archange Touadera of vote fraud. An armed rebellion following the contested elections has forced hundreds of thousands of people to seek asylum in neighboring countries.
"Recent clashes between government forces and rebel groups in northern Central African Republic (CAR) have forced more than 2,000 refugees to cross into Chad in the past week," the UNHCR said in a press release.
Most refugees are currently sheltered in the village of Gandaza and the bordering town of Sido in Chad's southern region of Moyen-Chari, while some had to return to car to find food or salvage what is left of their properties, the UN agency added.
"Shelter, food and water, as well as access to sanitation and health care, are the most urgent needs of the refugees. UNHCR's ability to meet their basic requirements is severely constrained by a lack of funding and resources," the press release said, noting that the CAR humanitarian operation is one of the most underfunded projects by UNHCR across the world.
As of now, Chad shelters nearly 11,000 out of 117,000 Central African refugees who fled violence at home. Other countries hosting the refugees are Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Congo.
