Celebrating 25 Years of Scoop
More Than a Million Displaced in Africa
New York, Oct 26 2009 3:10PM
The total number of people forced from their homes in the past six months by persistent violent conflict in Central and Eastern Africa has topped 1 million, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">) reported today.
According to the data compiled by
OCHA’s regional office, the total number of internally
displaced persons (IDPs) across the region has now passed
the 10 million mark.
Sudan heads the list of 10 out of
the region’s 18 countries that contain large numbers of
IDPs, with 4 million of its population displaced, followed
by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with at least
2 million and Somalia with 1.55 million.
Statistics in
OCHA’s latest Displaced Populations Report showed that
there has also been an increase of over 5,000 refugees
moving across borders since March, bringing the total number
of refugees to more than 1,875,000 in 16 countries across
the region.
Chad, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania continue
to shelter the highest number of refugees in the region,
with each country hosting at least 250,000 people.
The
report noted that the combined IDP and refugee population in
the Eastern and Central African stands at 11,930,704 as of
the end of September, pointing to the escalation of violence
in Somalia as a major cause of the increase, particularly in
refugees fleeing to Kenya.
An estimated 250,000 people
were displaced in May alone from Mogadishu, the capital of
Somalia, by fighting between forces of the Transitional
Federal Government (TFG) and various militias.
In
addition, OCHA said that repeated attacks by the Ugandan
rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on civilians in eastern
DRC and the Central African Republic (CAR) has contributed
to refugees pouring into the Sudan, as well as massive
internal displacement within Southern Sudan.
Sudan
has also experienced intermittent clashes in the south and
in Darfur, ahead of the planned elections under the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and referendum on the
future status of the
south.
ENDS
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