People are fleeing their homes to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon in fear of their villages being attacked due to the presence of heavily armed fighters.

“Refugees arriving in the two neighbouring countries, which already host tens of thousands of refugees from CAR, said they had seen killings, kidnappings, looting and the torching of their homes,” said Melissa Fleming, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Another 25,000 to 30,000 people have been affected and internally displaced by the fighting in CAR this year. UNHCR is expressing their concern to the international community over the possibility of the internally displaced persons seeking to cross borders as a result of the increased violence in CAR.

The UNHCR reports that they have seen a rise in the number of men fleeing CAR, in addition to the majority of asylum seekers being women, children and the elderly. More than 20 percent of the asylum seekers require special needs. “They are arriving in a poor state; exhausted, weak and hungry with many traumatized. These people, crammed into structures provided by the village host community, need urgent aid, including shelter, food and medical care,” said Fleming.  

To know more, read:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54417#.V48wVFfv3wx
http://allafrica.com/stories/201607120196.html
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/briefing/2016/7/577f6cec4/6000-flee-chad-cameroon-escape-car-violence.html