'Humanitarian disaster' looms for Central African Republic

Strife-torn Central African Republic is heading for a humanitarian disaster, a Unicef official warned Wednesday, calling for urgent action to prevent deadly diseases from spreading in overcrowded refugee camps.

CAR.JPG

(Getty)

"All the elements are present for a potentially deadly outbreak of disease -- severely overcrowded camps, low immunity and extremely poor water and sanitation infrastructure," said Souleymane Diabate, Unicef's representative in the CAR.
   
"This is a deadly combination for children. Unless we act now, we could have a disaster on our hands."
   
With at least seven cases of measles confirmed, the UN agency is racing to halt the spread of the potentially deadly disease by vaccinating 210,000 children displaced by violence in the country.
   
At Bangui airport, where about 100,000 displaced people have set up camp, three cases of measles have been confirmed, said Unicef.
   
The landlocked country sank into chaos when rebels from the Seleka movement launched a coup in March, and installed Michel Djotodia as the country's first Muslim president.
   
Djotodia has since officially disbanded the rebels, but has proved unable to keep them in check.
   
Instead the rebels have gone on killing, raping and pillaging, prompting Christians to form vigilante groups in response and sparking a deadly cycle of revenge attacks.
   
More than 1,000 people have been killed in the past month alone and nearly a million have been displaced since the coup.





Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AFP

Tags

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world