Cameron's asylum seekers

Indications are that displacement into Chad has accelerated fast, as the total is nearly triple the figure reported last week, when 30,000 people had crossed the border seeking safety.

Casualties from the fighting have also risen to 44 people killed and 111 injured, compared to 22 dead and 30 wounded reported last week. In total, 112 villages were burned down.

The majority of new arrivals in Chad are children, and 98 per cent of the adults are women. Some 48,000 have found refuge in 18 urban sites in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, and 37,000 people are scattered across 10 rural sites along Chad's bank of the Logone River.

Refugees are in dire need of shelter, blankets, mats and hygienic kits. Some are being generously hosted by local communities, but most are still sleeping in the open and under trees.

In Far North Cameroon, security forces have been deployed and disarmament operations are underway. While few incidents have been reported during the past week, tensions remain high.

Clashes initially broke out on 5 December in the border village of Ouloumsa following a dispute between herders and fishermen and farmers over dwindling water resources. The climate crisis is exacerbating the competition for resources, especially water. The surface of Lake Chad has decreased by as much as 95 per cent in the past 60 years.

 

_{Source & credit: UNHCR, Redcross}