Displaced civilians still need relief aid, UN official says

Thousands of civilians displaced since late December 2005 following banditry attacks in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) urgently require relief aid, an official of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said. "This is a serious humanitarian emergency with a real catastrophe looming ahead, and lack of resources for NGOs and other organisations helping these people has hampered efforts of providing relief," said Maurizio Giuliano, OCHA public information officer, on Wednesday. He said the number of displaced persons in the province of Ouham could be higher 5,000 as insecurity hindered access to the affected villages. The displaced urgently need food, shelter, clothing and medical aid. Giuliano added that some people had fled into neighbouring Chad. Michel Salle, the CAR minister for home affairs, declined to comment on the plight of the displaced civilians. He said on Friday that the government had deployed soldiers, backed by troops from the Economic Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), to the Chad-CAR border to fight the bandits. "The UNHCR [UN refugee agency] is the only organisation that can give details about the nationals who left the country to escape fighting in the region," Salle said. On Wednesday, Giuliano said that OCHA had received information that another 770 people had been displaced following armed attacks in Berberati, in Mambere-Kadei province, in the southwest of the country. The attacks had forced villagers to flee into the bush, where they are living in extremely difficult conditions.