CAR: UN Expert Calls for Urgent Assistance for Internally Displaced Persons

A United Nations human rights expert on January 8 has warned  the international community to urgently provide adequate resources to cope with the protection and assistance needs of a large and growing number of persons displaced by violence in the Central African Republic.

“The number of displaced persons has increased dramatically over the past few weeks, and immediate access by humanitarian agencies, including to those sheltering in the airport in Bangui, must be granted without delay,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani.

Close to a million people have been internally displaced in the country, according to the latest figures from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, which include over half a million in the capital, representing two thirds of Bangui’s population.

“I welcome the efforts made by the humanitarian agencies to address the dire conditions of internally displaced persons in the Central African Republic, but the international community’s response to protect and assist those fleeing the violence, especially women, children, and those with disabilities needs to be strengthened,” Mr. Beyani noted.

“The flare-up of crises elsewhere should not affect the scale of the response which is urgently needed in the Central African Republic,” the independent expert stressed. “Humanitarian agencies urgently need extra resources to provide for the basic needs of those displaced from their homes.”

Since the attack led by the Anti-Balaka against elements of the Seleka on 5 December 2013 in Bangui, intercommunal violence in the capital has resulted in 752 deaths and more than 300 injured. Throughout the country there have been more than a thousand deaths and hundreds injured, raped, and their houses set on fire, resulting in one million displaced persons in the CAR to date.