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UNHCR has blamed escalating violence since the December 27 presidential vote for the surge in the number of refugees.
The number of people fleeing violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has doubled to nearly 60,000 in just one week, the UN refugee agency said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has accused the escalation of violence since the presidential vote on December 27 for the sharp increase in the number of refugees.
He added that most had fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) across the Oubangi River.
“The United Nations refugee agency calls for an immediate end to all violence in CAR, as nearly 60,000 people have been forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries since December, a double increase in just one week UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva. Friday.
He said in addition to those crossing the DRC, nearly 9,000 CAR refugees had arrived in neighboring Cameroon, Chad and the Republic of Congo in the past month, while 58,000 others were still displaced to the country. interior of the country.
“UNHCR and its partners in CAR are collecting reports on abuses committed by armed groups, including sexual violence, attacks on voters and looting,” Cheshirkov said.
Attack near the capital
Landlocked CAR is one of the poorest nations in the world and has seen a series of coups and wars since its independence from France in 1960.
On Wednesday, CAR rebel forces mounted their closest attack in Bangui – which lies on the Ubangi across from the DRC – before being repulsed with the loss of a peacekeeper, the peacekeeper said. ‘UN.
The rebels had launched an offensive promising to march on the capital ahead of the disputed presidential election on December 27, in what the government called a coup attempt.
On January 4, President Faustin Archange Touadera was declared the winner of the election, although the CAR’s political opposition has screamed scandal.
The results represent only about half of registered voters, with hundreds of thousands of people unable to vote in rebel-held areas.
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