Central African Republic: a forgotten emergency

I've had a go on this blog more than a few times at our media for failing to cover stuff - still little reporting of the 3 million people who have left their homes in Iraq - well here is another refugee story...

Photo: Randwick woods near Ash Lane

A classic example of a "forgotten emergency" - rebels and Government in the Central African Republic (CAR) continue to clash despite ongoing talks of a peace agreement - nearly 300,000 people have been driven from their homes as of last month, according to a United Nations update. UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)report worse - attacks by bandits, who continue to wreak havoc across the country's northwest, burning and looting houses and kidnapping and killing civilians - some of the strife is linked to the situation in neighbouring Sudan's Darfur region and Chad, with 197,000 people displaced internally, in many cases living in the bush, and a further 98,000 fleeing to Cameroon, Chad and Sudan. In return, CAR has received thousands of refugees from Chad and Sudan. Some 20 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday. See more: http://allafrica.com/stories/200801170774.html