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Spike in Violence in CAR Causing Thousands to Flee

by Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA --

   United Nations agencies report that an upsurge in violence and an
   alarming escalation of human rights abuses in the Central African
   Republic (CAR) are causing tens of thousands of people to flee across
   borders and thousands of others to become displaced within the country.

   The U.N. says the violence taking place in the CAR is on a scale that
   has not been seen since 2014. This is affirmed by agencies such as the
   U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which notes more than 100,000
   refugees from the CAR were registered in the Democratic Republic of
   Congo by the end of June.

   Additionally, the UNHCR reports that DRC authorities have registered
   more than 60,000 new arrivals in North Ubangui and Bas-Uele since May.
   UNHCR spokesman William Spindler says people have been fleeing into
   remote areas of the northern DRC, putting immense pressure on
   difficult-to-reach local communities that are close to the border.

   Spindler says one of these areas is Ndu. While barely a village, he
   says Ndu now is hosting some 37,000 new arrivals from the CAR.

   "Our colleagues, who were in Ndu a few days ago, say the situation
   there is chaotic and its proximity to the border makes it dangerous,
   with armed bandits feared to be nearby. Refugees are staying everywhere
   they can -- in churches, buildings used as schools, in the only health
   center, or sleeping in the open. People desperately need more health
   care, food and shelter, Spindler said.

   In the meantime, the U.N. Children's Fund reports that children
   increasingly are being targeted by armed groups in the CAR during
   attacks on villages or towns. It says atrocities committed against
   children as young as two include murders, abductions, rape, and
   recruitment as child soldiers.