Central African Republic refugees flee to Cameroon

The Gado Refugee camp in Cameroon has become home to many escaping the increasing violence in the Central African Republic

About 60,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries over the last few weeks since six powerful rebel groups launched an offensive a few months ago to try and prevent the re-election of President Faustin-Archange Touadera.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR, the number means a two-fold rise in just one week.

“Really, the arrival of those rebels was a blow. We fled with my husband in the hope of finding some peace”, a refugee from the CAR, Ihindou Melina, said.

Violence has escalated recently, with security forces on Wednesday repelling rebels trying to seize the capital Bangui, after intense fighting on the city’s outskirts.

At least one Rwandan peacekeeper has been killed and another injured, the United Nations said.

On Friday, at least one peacekeeper was killed and another two were injured during an attack against the UN soldiers in Grimari, a city located 200km from the capital, the United Nations Mission in the country said in a statement.

“So far we have registered nearly 3,000 people who are seeking refuge in Cameroon from the Central African Republic. These people, most of them, are women under the age of 50, they have come with children”, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cameroon, Helen Ngoh Ada, said.

The UN refugee agency says those who arrive at sites for the displaced have witnessed traumatic scenes of violence and that malnutrition rates have risen to serious levels.

AFN/Nneka Ukachukwu