2.7
million people have fled violence and persecution across the region. It is one of the world's fastest-growing humanitarian crises.
+105,000
people have fled CAR in the past two months as a result of the violence that erupted amid the December 2020 elections.
90%
of those fleeing the escalating violence surrounding the 2020 elections have found refuge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Central African Republic, a landlocked country with roughly the size of Texas, has struggled with armed conflict and instability for many years. In 2013, an outbreak of violence between armed groups forced more than 640,000 people to flee the country in search of safety and an additional 630,000 were internally displaced (IDPs). The majority of those who fled the country sought refuge in neighboring countries, such as Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo, with smaller numbers in Sudan and South Sudan.
Today, CAR continues to experience sporadic surges of violence - the most recent in December 2020 after a troubled election which displaced more than 200,000 people in less than two months. These recent displacements bring the number of displaced Central Africans to over 1.5 million, representing almost a third of the country’s total population.
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UNHCR is on the ground aiding refugees in CAR, but resources are stretched too thin. Your gift will offer hope for a safe future.
The UN Refugee Agency is advocating at all levels for the safety and security of all civilians and ramping up lifesaving assistance to support those who have been forced to flee.
Inside CAR, UNHCR focuses on delivering shelter and basic relief items to support the growing number of IDPs and, in neighboring countries, it assists new arrivals while building refugee’s livelihoods and ability to sustain themselves. It is also working with other humanitarian partners to support protection activities and humanitarian assistance throughout the region.
After the most recent outbreak of violence, UNHCR has also started working in close collaboration with the DRC government to register more than 1,000 new arrivals per day and has pre-positioned emergency supplies in certain hard-to-reach areas of the country prone to becoming inaccessible during the looming rainy season.
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Conditions dire as CAR displacement tops 200,000
Number of Central African refugees soars as violence intensifies
More stories about the Central African Republic refugee crisis >
Central African refugees sit outside their makeshift shelter in the village of Ndu, Democratic Republic of Congo.