A record number of people, more than 1.1 million (at least a fifth of the population), have been uprooted in Central African Republic by spiralling violence between armed groups which threatens to plunge the country back into full-blown conflict, the United Nations said.
A surge in militia fighting in several hotspots since May has driven the number of people seeking refuge in neighbouring nations to more than 500,000, while about 600,000 are displaced within the country, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said. This represents the highest number of people forced from their homes since the conflict erupted in 2013, when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted the president, provoking a backlash from Christian anti-balaka militias, according to UNHCR.
Nearly one in two people in Central African Republic - more than 2.2 million - need aid amid the rising violence, says the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Yet several aid agencies such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Plan International have been forced to temporarily suspend their operations in recent months, as militants loot humanitarian compounds, attack staff and raid health facilities.
The country's humanitarian response plan for 2017 has been less than a third funded - $148 million of a requested $497 million. "The consequences could be disastrous, if there are no further resources to meet the mounting needs," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said
A surge in militia fighting in several hotspots since May has driven the number of people seeking refuge in neighbouring nations to more than 500,000, while about 600,000 are displaced within the country, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said. This represents the highest number of people forced from their homes since the conflict erupted in 2013, when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted the president, provoking a backlash from Christian anti-balaka militias, according to UNHCR.
Nearly one in two people in Central African Republic - more than 2.2 million - need aid amid the rising violence, says the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Yet several aid agencies such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Plan International have been forced to temporarily suspend their operations in recent months, as militants loot humanitarian compounds, attack staff and raid health facilities.
The country's humanitarian response plan for 2017 has been less than a third funded - $148 million of a requested $497 million. "The consequences could be disastrous, if there are no further resources to meet the mounting needs," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said
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