By Godfrey Olukya 28-11-2013
Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) has today renewed call to the
international community, especially UN agencies, to increase its
response to the ongoing crisis in Central African Republic ,Africa
Press has reported.
A further wave of mass displacement in the town of Bouca, northeastern
Central African Republic (CAR), following fresh clashes between
reported anti-balaka elements and ex-Séléka forces, the second time in
two months in this area, once again highlights the need for urgent
humanitarian action in CAR said Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) today.
“The fighting in Bouca is indicative of how horrific violence is
engulfing the Central African Republic” said Sylvain Groulx, MSF Head
of Mission in CAR. “We are extremely concerned about the living
conditions of the displaced, whether overcrowded in churches, mosques
or schools or invisible, living in the bush with no access to
healthcare, food or water and threatened by epidemics. Much more needs
to be done and it needs to be done now.”
The fighting in the Bouca area, which started early last week left
several dead and wounded just outside the town of 15,000 people. Some
of the wounded were taken to the MSF clinic, and two men in critical
condition had to be transferred to the hospital in Batangafo 100 km
away, one died on the way.
The recent violence follows deadly clashes in September when around
100 people were killed in attacks on civilians by armed groups, 700
houses were burnt down and thousands of people were displaced. Since
then people have been living in a climate of fear and intimidation
including an ultimatum being delivered last Tuesday to the community
of 700 people seeking refuge in the Bouca Catholic Mission to leave
the place.
“More than half of the 700 people that were seeking refuge in the
Bouca Catholic Mission have fled” said Matthieu Amiraux, MSF field
coordinator in Bouca “The situation is very tense, Muslim families are
leaving the town in droves. All you see in town anymore is armed men.
MSF also wishes to highlight how the crisis continues in neighboring
Bossangoa where an estimated 35,000 displaced people are in need of
assistance. MSF started mobile clinics in mid-November to reach those
hiding in the bush, where its teams continue to witness the effects of
ongoing violence, and the lack of a comprehensive humanitarian aid
response.
The UN estimates that 400,000 people, ten per cent of the population,
have been displaced across CAR since the coup in March 2013, those
displaced in Bossangoa and Bouca are more to add to this ever growing
number.
MSF calls for the UN and other humanitarian agencies to increase their
presence to respond to this neglected crisis. While the medical
organization has had on a few occasions to temporarily evacuate its
teams from different locations, its activities have never stopped. In
fact, MSF has been able to expand programs as well as emergency
response since December 2012.
Having faced political-military instability for decades, the Central
African Republic (CAR) now faces a chronic humanitarian and health
emergency. MSF has been active in CAR since 1997. Currently, MSF runs
seven regular projects in Batangafo, Boguila, Carnot, Kabo, Ndele,
Paoua and Zemio, and has started emergency operations In Bossangoa,
Bouca and Bria since March. A mobile emergency team is ready to assist
in violence-affected areas and so far has been present in Bouar,
Mbaiki, Yaloké.
END
