Remember the forgotten CAR refugees –
Remember Africa
Azhar Vadi – Salaam Foundation
Fahme Yahya let out a sigh as she spoke to us on
the border of Chad and the Central African
Republic. It seemed as if she was throwing off the
weight of the world, getting her voice heard,
admitting to the vulnerability of women like her
living in that part of the world, seemingly a million
miles from the bling of first world existence.
As refugees living on the edges of dense mango
forests in places like Gore and Maro, southern
Chad, with mud homes, sand floors and leaved
roofs, she along with thousands of others have
become the forgotten people of the world.
They fled the CAR about five years ago as the
violence in their country reached its peak, escaping
the marauding gangs of the anti-Balaka, a group
formed to fight the Seleka rebels who overthrew
the government of then president, François Bozize.
The mass rape, cannibalism, destruction of life and
property has driven at least 568 572 people out of their
homes and into neighbouring countries according to
UNHCR statistics. A further 687 398 are internally
displaced.
But it’s the stories of the survivors of this mass
pillaging that strikes the core of one’s heart. Now
that the media attention has moved on to other
“more important” world crisis, the people of the
Central African Republic now living in Chad
describe themselves as simply forgotten.
The wrath of the anti-Balaka however turned
towards the minority Muslim population of the
CAR, revenge perhaps for the human rights
violations carried out by the Seleka, that have left
people traumatised for life.
“I’m going to be quite frank,” Fahme
told us on sitting under a simple shed in
their dusty refugee camp. Our girls no
longer want to stay with us. There is
nothing here. Our children are starving
and crying. If someone offers us even
less than 500 Chadian Francs (less than
$1) we will sleep with them.