FEATURE: Chad continues to welcome thousands fleeing violence in CAR

Despite Covid-19, Chadian authorities have kept the country’s border open and allowed access to asylum to some 8,500 refugees who fled since the beginning of this year.

CAPE TOWN, April 7 (ANA) – Chad continues to host thousands of refugees fleeing violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) as fighting between government forces and rebel groups forces tens of thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

Zara and her husband made a quick decision. She would take the four children to the town of Markounda, a day’s walk away near the border of Chad, and he would meet them, she told the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Once there, however, Zara, 30, had no time to wait. As armed men drew closer, she took the children across the border into Chad. There, in Doholo refugee camp in the town of Choda, she and her children set up a shelter made from branches and straw, and Zara got straight to work, selling crêpes and doughnuts.

“I had some savings which I took with me, and I was already selling crêpes back in my country,” Zara said. “I needed to do something to cover the needs of my children, to feed them, put clothes on them. I need to give them a better future, even if we are in exile.”

Fighting first erupted in the CAR in 2013, after rebels ousted former president Francois Bozize. Since then, the country has experienced sporadic but devastating violence that has forced close to 1.5 million to flee.

The latest violence came after last December’s presidential and parliamentary elections and displaced 250,000, many within their own country. Others, like Zara, have sought refuge in neighbouring countries such as Chad, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere, according to the UNHCR.

Despite Covid-19, Chadian authorities have kept the country’s border open and allowed access to asylum to some 8,500 refugees who fled since the beginning of this year.

After two weeks of quarantine in a centre built for the recent influx of refugees, 5,000 refugees were settled in Doholo, a nearby refugee camp already hosting 6,000 Central Africans who fled violence in 2014.

The UNHCR said it is working with the government and partners to relocate thousands of refugees to safer, better-equipped sites further from the border. The agency also provides refugees with core relief items, such as mats, mosquito nets and kitchen utensils, and helps refugee children enrol in schools.

Zara, whose eldest daughter helps her after school, earns nearly US$1.50 daily, a small sum she supplements by selling sugar, spices and peanuts. It is barely enough for her family to get by, having fled with almost nothing.

“She would like mats for the family to sit on, as well as larger buckets so they could store enough water to not have to constantly fetch more. She also needs blankets as well shoes and school supplies for the children,” the UNHCR said.

“As the conflict drags on, Zara knows she will not be able to return home any time soon.”

Meanwhile, embattled CAR President Faustin Archange Touadéra vowed to crack down on crime as he was being sworn in for his second term in office last week.

Touadéra was re-elected in January for another five-year term following a December 27 vote in which he secured more than 53% of the votes.

Apart from reconciling the country, he is expected to intensify the fight against armed groups controlling about two-third of the country, the Cameroon Tribune reported.

According to the Associated Press, Touadéra faces a growing threat from an armed rebellion linked to Bozize.

However, critics have questioned whether he can clamp down on crime, given his failure to do so over the past five years in power.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher