UN facilitating aid efforts as Central African refugees stream into eastern Chad

The United Nations is facilitating humanitarian assistance for the growing number of refugees who are fleeing insecurity in the Central African Republic (CAR) and arriving in a remote village in eastern Chad.

Renewed violence between the CAR Government and rebel militias has brought some 5,000 refugees to Daha in recent days, bringing to total number of people in the Chadian village to 10,000, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which adds that there are about 100 new arrivals every day.

On Monday, the UN presence in Chad and CAR (MINURCAT) and UN agencies facilitated a joint humanitarian mission to Daha, the second such operation in response to the influx of CAR refugees.

According to a news release issued by MINURCAT, a convoy carrying humanitarian assistance was escorted by the Détachement Intégré de Sécurité (DIS), humanitarian police specially trained by MINURCAT to protect refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and humanitarians.

A special MINURCAT helicopter flight was able to ferry some 300 kilogrammes of medicine to the area.

Aid agencies are planning to provide health care, food and non-food items, as well as water and sanitation to the refugees, many of whom UNHCR says are women and children.

The agency has cited logistical challenges in reaching the village as a major problem, noting that roads there are in very bad condition and will become impassable once the rainy season starts in two months.