Nearly 9,000 flee CAR violence to Cameroon: UNHCR
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 8, 2014 4:20PM GMT
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says nearly 9,000 people have fled the violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) to neighboring Cameroon.
Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba, the UNHCR spokesperson, said on Friday that 8,762 people of various nationalities, mostly Central Africans, had fled the CAR through crossing into Cameroon's eastern town of Kentzou.
The Central Africans, who have been registered as refugees by the UNHCR, are mainly women and children, said the official, adding, "The majority of them are Muslims."
The latest arrivals are living in dire conditions in eastern Cameroon. They are either hosted by impoverished local families or reside in mosques or on the streets, the UN refugee agency further said.
According to the UNHCR, the people fleeing the sectarian violence in the CAR are also crossing into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has so far received above 1,500 refugees.
The violence broke out in the CAR last December after Christian militias attacked the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which toppled the previous government in March 2013.
Fierce fighting in the CAR reportedly killed over 1,000 people and forced about one million people to flee their homes last month. Recent reports say thousands of Muslims have fled the CAR capital, Bangui, amid the ongoing sectarian violence.
The international medical charity, Doctors without Borders (MSF), has condemned the violence against Muslim communities in the CAR, saying it has reached intolerable and unprecedented levels.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has also called on the international community to take all possible actions to prevent "a human catastrophe" in the Central African Republic.
MKA/AB/SS
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