• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%

Life eases slightly for refugees in corner of Central African Republic

News Stories, 10 July 2007

© UNHCR/N.Rost
A refugee woman from Darfur carries a sack of flour that was distributed at Sam Ouandja.

SAM OUANDJA, Central African Republic, July 10 (UNHCR) – UNHCR and sister agencies are helping to make life more bearable in this corner of north-east Central African Republic (CAR) for more than 2,600 refugees who fled attacks on their homes in Sudan's South Darfur region some seven weeks ago.

But conditions remain harsh in Sam Ouandja and getting supplies to the remote area located some 80 kilometres from the border with Sudan will become increasingly challenging during the rainy season. "It's difficult here," said Fatouma Ali Abakar, whose 20-year-old daughter has still not recovered from giving birth in Sam Ouandja three weeks ago to her first child.

Things are improving: the refugees have constructed waterproof shelters with plastic sheeting distributed by UNHCR; basic health services are being provided; and water for drinking and cooking is being treated.

And at the weekend, the World Food Programme (WFP) made a second distribution of food, which should last for three weeks. A WFP convoy carrying a further 51 tonnes of food was on its way on Tuesday to Sam Ouandja on rough roads from the distant CAR capital, Bangui. The agency has to date transported 105 tonnes of food here, including high-energy biscuits.

UNHCR has a team on the ground to manage the camp and, together with the local authorities, ensure the refugees' legal protection. A school for more than 600 children has been set up, while latrines and shelters for food distribution have been built. UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the NGO Triangle are providing basic services such as education, access to water, food distribution and health services.

The local authorities and people of Sam Ouandja have welcomed the refugees despite having suffered themselves in recent months from conflict. The Sudanese, who fled air and ground attacks on their homes in the town of Dafak, have been given land on which to build shelters and grow food.

The refugees were in bad shape when they arrived. They had only mangoes and wild fruit to eat. Even now, aid agencies struggle to respond to their most basic needs and many continue to fall sick with malaria or diarrhoea. As the rains intensify, it is becoming more difficult to transport relief items along the 950-kilometre road from Bangui.

Analysts say the arrival of the more than 2,600 refugees in CAR is another sign that the Darfur crisis is affecting neighbouring countries. Some 235,000 refugees from West Darfur are sheltering in 12 UNHCR-run camps in eastern Chad. High Commissioner António Guterres has repeatedly called for an international presence along the CAR-Sudan and the Chad-Sudan borders.

CAR hosts some 8,600 refugees, mainly from Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the northern part, violence has forced an estimated 290,000 people to flee their homes since July 2005. Some 78,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries and 212,000 have been displaced within the country.

By Nicolas Rost in Sam Ouandja, Central African Republic

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related stories by:

UNHCR country pages

Crisis in the Central African Republic

Little has been reported about the humanitarian crisis in the northern part of the Central African Republic (CAR), where at least 295,000 people have been forced out of their homes since mid-2005. An estimated 197,000 are internally displaced, while 98,000 have fled to Chad, Cameroon or Sudan. They are the victims of fighting between rebel groups and government forces.

Many of the internally displaced live in the bush close to their villages. They build shelters from hay, grow vegetables and even start bush schools for their children. But access to clean water and health care remains a huge problem. Many children suffer from diarrhoea and malaria but their parents are too scared to take them to hospitals or clinics for treatment.

Cattle herders in northern CAR are menaced by the zaraguina, bandits who kidnap children for ransom. The villagers must sell off their livestock to pay.

Posted on 21 February 2008

Crisis in the Central African Republic

Battling the Elements in Chad

More than 180,000 Sudanese refugees have fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region, crossing the border to the remote desert of eastern Chad.

It is one of the most inhospitable environments UNHCR has ever had to work in. Vast distances, extremely poor road conditions, scorching daytime temperatures, sandstorms, the scarcity of vegetation and firewood, and severe shortages of drinkable water have been major challenges since the beginning of the operation. Now, heavy seasonal rains are falling, cutting off the few usable roads, flooding areas where refugees had set up makeshift shelters, and delaying the delivery of relief supplies.

Despite the enormous environmental challenges, UNHCR has so far managed to establish nine camps and relocate the vast majority of the refugees who are willing to move from the volatile border.

Battling the Elements in Chad

Southerners on the move before Sudanese vote

Ahead of South Sudan's landmark January 9, 2011 referendum on independence, tens of thousands of southern Sudanese in the North packed their belongings and made the long trek south. UNHCR set up way stations at key points along the route to provide food and shelter to the travellers during their arduous journey. Several reports of rapes and attacks on travellers reinforced the need for these reception centres, where women, children and people living with disabilities can spend the night. UNHCR has made contingency plans in the event of mass displacement after the vote, including the stockpiling of shelter and basic provisions for up to 50,000 people.

Southerners on the move before Sudanese vote

Sudan: A Perilous RoutePlay video

Sudan: A Perilous Route

Kassala camp in eastern Sudan provides shelter to thousands of refugees from Eritrea. Many of them pass through the hands of ruthless and dangerous smugglers.
Sudan: Heading for a New HomePlay video

Sudan: Heading for a New Home

UNHCR is offering to help move hundreds of people from Sudan to newly independent South Sudan, where they will build new lives. Almost 250 families with ties to the south are waiting for a ride.
South Sudan: Blue Nile RefugeesPlay video

South Sudan: Blue Nile Refugees

Refugees are streaming in from Sudan's Blue Nile Region into South Sudan, many to Doro Camp.