95 per cent of population flees Birao in Northern Central African Republic

(New York: 21 March 2007): A United Nations team, which yesterday gained access to the main town in north-eastern Central African Republic for the first time since fighting between Government forces and UFDR militants resumed on 3 March 2007, says it saw a place emptied of its population.

United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Toby Lanzer, who led the mission to Birao expressed his shock at the scene: "Never before has the UN seen a town in CAR where 70 per cent of houses have been torched. The impact of this on people's lives cannot be exaggerated."

Prior to the recent fighting, some 14,000 people lived in Birao, located on the Central African border with Sudan's Darfur region. However, following yesterday's visit, the United Nations now estimates that no more than 600 people remain in the town, the rest having fled the violence and believed to be living in the bush. In addition to the burning of houses, which makes the population's return virtually impossible before the start of the rainy season in May, the team also noted that the town's schools and hospital had been destroyed or looted during the fighting. Priorities for the humanitarian response to this most recent violence include shelter, non-food items, and psycho-social support.

"This alarming news underscores the importance of my mission, which is intended to highlight the dire situation in the north of the Central African Republic, as well as the gaps in our ability to provide an adequate response due to both a shortage of resources and of humanitarian actors on the ground," said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who left yesterday on a two-week, three-country mission to Africa, including to Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic.

The number of people internally displaced in several parts of the Central African Republic tripled in 2006. As many as 280,000 are now displaced, including 20,000 Central Africans who have sought refuge in Cameroon, 50,000 in Chad, and an estimated 212,000 internally displaced within the country. Overall, some one million people -- one quarter of the total population -- are estimated to be affected by the widespread insecurity throughout the north.

Decades of recurrent armed conflict, political instability and poor governance have devastated the lives of the country's 4.2 million people. The country is the seventh least developed on earth, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index. Social indicators have been declining steadily for two decades, with 2003 estimates putting under-5 child mortality at more than 20 per cent. Basic infrastructure and social services, such as health and education, are nearly non-existent outside the capital of Bangui.

In 2007, the United Nations is appealing for $54.5 million for urgently-needed assistance. To date, just under $8 million has been received, or 15 per cent of requirements. In 2006, only 60 per cent of total needs was covered.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int