Over 50.000 persons have sought refuge in countries sharing borders with the Central African Republic in less than a month.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is reporting that 58000 persons have been internally displaced and Cameroon may receive 5000 refugees by the end of January 2021 if violence persists.
Garoua Boulai border town between Cameroon and CAR in the East has been host to many since December 2020. The new arrivals admit their property, including food stock, was destroyed or confiscated by the rebels and they have run out of their meager savings. They have hence been engaging in some negative coping mechanisms (reducing frequency of daily meals, reducing consumption by adults to prioritize children, consume cheaper and less preferred foods, borrowing food, help from neighbors).
Some 285 refugees in Gado-Badzere indicated interest to be moved to the refugee camp site. In response, WFP has made available 2,500 tons of food items comprising rice, beans, vegetable oil, salt and other Non-food-items with support from USAID. This was distributed to some 60 families of 285 people recently moved to a temporal camp in Gado-Badzere some 30 KM from the border town of Garoua-Boulai. This support reaches 12% of what has been planned so far.
Awareness raising session have also been led by WFP where beneficiaries are told the context of the aid, protection risks, their rations as well as COVID-19 prevention strategies as they settle into the camp.
The recent violence in CAR led to border closures and cargo trucks lined up on both sides of the border between Cameroon and CAR unable to move goods including humanitarian support due to security concerns.
Violence escalated in the Central African Republic in 2012. Seven years later, a peace accord was signed between the government and 14 armed groups. The Khartoum peace accord seems to have ended on paper as violence persists.
Veronica AJI
