Central African Republic: UN agency registers thousands of refugees arriving in Chad
New refugees, most women and children fleeing a recent flare up in violence in the northwest of the Central African
Republic (CAR) in Chad. Photo: UNHCR/Ezzat Habib Chami
5 January 2018 – In the wake of a recent flare-up of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations
refugee agency said Friday that it is registering and assisting thousands of mostly women and children refugees arriving
in Chad.
“More than 5,000 refugees are estimated to have arrived in southern Chad since late December, escaping clashes between
the armed groups Mouvement national pour la libération de la Centrafrique (MNLC) and Révolution et Justice (RJ) in the
town of Paoua,” Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the regular press briefing in Geneva.
Located in CAR’s prefecture of Ouham-Pendé, the town also has an additional 20,000 people displaced internally.
“With our government partners in Chad, UNHCR has so far registered some 2,350 new refugees in the village of Odoumian,
located some 15 kilometres from the CAR border,” he added.
Many of the refugees trekked to Chad on foot. Local officials say some 5,600 have arrived since 27 December, when the
recent fighting started. Over 1,000 new refugees are also reported to have arrived at existing camps near the town of
Goré.
“The influx is the largest movement of refugees from CAR, exceeding the total number for 2017, when about 2,000 fled
into Chad,” the spokesperson continued, adding that many are reporting widespread human rights abuses by armed groups in
villages alongside the CAR-Chad border.
Although the border with CAR is officially closed, Mr. Baloch welcomed Chad’s humanitarian gesture in allowing the
refugees to seek international protection inside its territory.
Host to over 75,000 Central Africans, UNHCR is helping Chadian authorities to register and aid the refugees.
“With its partners, UNHCR is also providing medical check-ups for the many refugees arriving in poor health, some unable
to walk,” he elaborated.
Armed violence and attacks inside CAR, have resulted in the country’s highest-ever recorded number of refugees and
internally displaced – almost one-fourth of the population of around 4.6 million.