Aid workers in the Central Africa Republic have said that a torrential rainfall in the country has worsened the plight of hundreds of thousands of people who have been living in violence in the country since last year.
Hundreds of people mainly Muslims are sheltering from religious violence from Christians majority in makeshift camps in the capital Bangui.
Officials say the situation is raising the risk of malaria and dysentery infection in the camps and an urgent action should be taken by the international community.
A heavy downpour which began on Sunday has struck the riverside and in the largest camp where 70,000 people are packed together beside the runway of M’poko International Airport in the capital Bangui, residents made their way through up to 30cm of muddy rain waters.
The Central Africa Republic has been torn apart by violence that has killed thousands since Seleka, a coalition of mostly Muslim fighters based in the north of the country seized power from President Francois Bozize, a Christian.
But fighting intensified in December when militias drawn from the majority Christian population called anti-Balaka stepped up reprisal attacks on Muslims triggering a humanitarian crisis.
The deputy head of the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in the country, Judith Leveillee told reporters that the flooding situation could cause a new problem for the country apart from the violence.
“All the conditions are favorable for puddles and standing water, which is always a risk for waterborne diseases like malaria and acute diarrhea”, she said.
The United Nations on Monday proposed a nearly 12,000-strong peacekeeping force to stop the country sliding towards what a top U.N. rights official called ethnic-religious genocide.
Official figures indicate that close to 300,000 people have fled to neighboring Chad and Cameroon because of food and water shortages. Most of those fled are Muslims.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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