Recent political turmoil in the Central African Republic (CAR) has led to a rising number of refugees fleeing conflict into neighbouring Chad.
According to data from the Maro UNHCR field office near the Chadian border, more than 5,800 people have left CAR and arrived in the Sido district of southern Chad since the beginning of March. This is in addition to the 17,000 refugees already in the Maro region since 2012.
Most of the refugees were listed as being elderly, sick, pregnant women, children or mentally and physically disabled people.
“The recent influx of refugees has greatly strained resources at Chadian camps near the CAR border,” says Bonaventure Wakara, CARE Chad’s country director. “A lack of shelter supplies has meant that some refugees have spent nearly a week sleeping under trees. We are increasingly concerned about the amount of water supplies, sanitary infrastructure, food and schools to support this growing refugee population.”
There is an immediate need for additional shelters and water, sanitation and hygiene support to increase water access and provide more latrines.
CARE’s country office in Chad already provides support to more than 58,600 refugees in southern Chad and is closely monitoring the situation. CARE is working with the UNHCR to determine how to meet the needs of the new refugees in Chad.
The UNHCR has relocated some 2,500 newly arrived refugees from Maro to the Dosseye camp in Gore where organizations including CARE have begun water, sanitation, hygiene, food and shelter operations. CARE has also participated in the development of a common shelter strategy led by the UNHCR and distributed construction kits to the relocated refugees in Dosseye. In addition, CARE has built 27 latrines, while conducting in parallel hygiene and sanitation awareness campaigns in the Maro camps.
Given the high number of women alone with their children, CARE is also assessing whether these refugees are adequately protected from the risk of sexual and gender-based violence both in and outside the camp.
ABOUT CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. In 84 countries around the world, CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to help lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. CARE and its local partners implement long-term development programs and humanitarian assistance interventions in the Great Lakes countries (DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi), including programs to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and provide support to survivors.