U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2002 - Central African Republic

Central African Republic was the source of about 22,000 refugees and approximately 5,000 internally displaced persons at the end of 2001. Some 20,000 refugees from Central African Republic lived in Congo-Kinshasa, while about 2,000 resided in Congo-Brazzaville. More than 70,000 people in Central African Republic fled their homes during the year.

Central African Republic hosted nearly 50,000 refugees at year's end, including some 35,000 from Sudan, about 10,000 from Congo-Kinshasa, nearly 2,000 from Chad, and some 2,000 from 19 other countries. More than 1,000 new refugees and asylum seekers arrived during 2001.

Political Violence

Former president General Andre Kolingba launched a surprise coup attempt against democratically elected President Ange-Felix Patasse in May. Pro-government forces defeated the coup attempt and retaliated against Kolingba's Yakoma ethnic group.

The capital, Bangui, suffered heavy damage and hundreds of deaths in ten days of fighting. Atrocities and other human rights abuses continued for two months before subsiding. Armed crime increased after the coup because of the proliferation of weapons.

A UN report characterized the coup attempt as "wholly unexpected" despite the severe political and economic tensions that preceded it. Soldiers involved in the coup fled to neighboring Congo-Kinshasa, where they posed a "legitimate concern" to security in the region, according to UN officials. The same report noted "sharp political tensions, further economic decline, simmering social tension, and a troubling lack of security" in the aftermath of the violence.

Uprooted Residents

Approximately 70,000 residents of Bangui fled their homes during the coup attempt and the subsequent retaliations by government supporters.

Most fled to the outskirts of the capital, where they sought shelter in local homes and the surrounding forest. Approximately 25,000 crossed the Oubangui River into northwest Congo-Kinshasa, including hundreds of armed participants in the coup attempt. About 2,000 refugees went to Congo-Brazzaville.

Central African Republic authorities officially closed their border with Congo-Kinshasa and deployed military patrols along the Oubangui River in an effort to halt cross-border traffic, preventing many citizens of Central African Republic from bringing food to relatives who had fled Bangui's violence.

Many displaced families were exposed to heavy rains before finding shelter. Residents of nearby towns and neighborhoods struggled to supply food, drinking water, and medicines to displaced persons in their midst.

As many as half of the uprooted population returned home by July, while others trickled home later in the year, often finding their houses looted and destroyed. Most of those who remained refugees or internally displaced at year's end were ethnic Yakoma who feared retribution.

The government of Central African Republic requested $95 million in aid for emergency relief, rehabilitation projects, and reintegration of uprooted people, but international donor countries responded with meager funding. The UN secretary general reported that government authorities in Central African Republic were "utterly incapable" of meeting their country's humanitarian needs and urged major nations to provide government management experts.

Refugees from Sudan

Large numbers of Sudanese refugees entered Central African Republic in the early 1990s, fleeing civil war in their own country. Few have repatriated. About 2,000 new Sudanese refugees have arrived in recent years, including about 300 during 2001.

Nearly all 35,000 Sudanese refugees lived in a camp at Mboki, more than 700 miles (about 1,200 km) from the capital in the isolated southeast corner of the country, near the borders of Sudan and Congo-Kinshasa. Fewer than 200 lived in Kaga-Bandoro camp about 200 miles (340 km) north of Bangui, while about 500 resided in Bangui.

Daunting logistics have made regular delivery of humanitarian aid to the Sudanese refugees at Mboki unreliable for years, with aid convoys from the capital forced to travel for four days over bad roads to reach the refugee population. Most Sudanese "have attained a high level of self-reliance" out of necessity, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported in mid-2001.

UNHCR stopped food shipments to Mboki camp at the start of 2001 after a successful harvest the previous year. Refugee families each farmed about two-and-a-half acres (one hectare) of land, using seeds and equipment donated by UNHCR.

Mboki camp had primary and secondary schools for 4,000 refugee children, while a health clinic provided medical care for refugees and the local population.

Although Sudanese refugees have occasionally experienced security problems at Mboki camp because of its proximity to the Sudanese border, UNHCR reported no serious protection incidents during 2001.

Refugees from Congo-Kinshasa

Some 10,000 refugees continued to live in Central African Republic at the end of 2001, having fled warfare in Congo-Kinshasa in previous years. More than 1,000 new refugees and asylum seekers arrived during 2001.

Congolese rebels crossed into Central African Republic in March and attacked a camp that housed 1,000 Congolese refugees. Government authorities and UNHCR immediately closed the camp, as well as a second Congolese camp, and transferred the refugee population to a new site, Molangue.

In May, domestic political violence in Bangui again endangered Congolese refugees. Congolese rebels reentered the country, killing two refugees and assaulting others. Refugees expressed alarm that Congolese government soldiers were also infiltrating Central African Republic to target specific refugees who were former government soldiers.

About 3,000 refugees repatriated to Congo-Kinshasa to escape mounting dangers in Central African Republic, and several hundred Congolese refugees belatedly moved to the new Molangue camp for safety.

By year's end, about 2,000 Congolese refugees lived at the Molangue site, and some 8,000 resided in Bangui. Refugees in the capital were eligible for education scholarships and medical assistance. Refugees at Molangue received food aid, seeds and tools to farm on about two-and-a-half acres (one hectare) of land per household, and assistance in raising livestock. More than 200 students attended primary and secondary school at the camp.

UNCHR reported that it considered former Congolese government soldiers among the refugee population to be candidates for international resettlement as a durable solution to their protection concerns.

Refugees from Chad

Up to 18,000 Chadian refugees fled to Central African Republic in the 1990s because of abuses by government and rebel troops in their country. Most refugees have returned to Chad in recent years.

About 1,000 refugees have voluntarily repatriated during the past two years in UNHCR convoys. Returnees received a three-month supply of rice, oil, salt, and sugar before departing Central African Republic.

The 2,000 remaining refugees continued to live at a camp in the northwest, about 170 miles (about 270 km) from the capital. Assistance ended in 1998 because most refugees supported themselves as cotton farmers.

Asylum Seekers from Rwanda

Rwandan asylum seekers in Central African Republic have attracted controversy in recent years because some of them were allegedly linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Most Rwandans in Central Africa Republic fled from Rwanda to Congo-Kinshasa in 1994, then fled to Central African Republic in 1997.

UNHCR officially recognized 400 Rwandan refugees in Central African Republic. Government officials classified the Rwandans as "asylum seekers in transit" and refused to provide aid to them. UNHCR offered medical assistance and education support, however. An unknown number of additional Rwandans probably lived in Central African Republic without registering with authorities.

Government officials have requested that UNHCR resettle Rwandan asylum seekers in a different country, and the refugee agency was processing individual cases for international resettlement as the year ended.

Officials accused some Rwandans of participating in the May 2001 coup attempt against the government of Central African Republic. Several Rwandan asylum seekers were killed in coup-related violence, and some Rwandans reportedly went into hiding.