CAR: 100s of displaced persons live in sour conditions

Despite the Central African Republic electing a new President, hundreds say their lives are yet to be made better.

A makeshift camp known as Mpoko is hosting thousands of displaced people who live very deplorable lives.

Heavy, seasonal rains have made conditions even worse. Some say floods have brought with them diseases such as malaria and other water-borne infections.

Early on in March, president Faustin Archange Touadera was sworn in to office.

But there has been hardly any plans to resettle the displaced.

“The rain reaches up to where we sleep. So we have been struggling a lot, especially for the children. Many are suffering from malaria and diarrhoea, it’s been a week now since there has been a diarrhoea outbreak, we have suffered a lot,” Natasha Lowo, a displaced person said.

“We thank God for the change that is happening in our country, God gave us a president, we ask him to guide us with wisdom so that he can free us from this suffering. We ask him to find a solution for this place, we want to go back home. We have suffered a lot and it’s now the rainy season and we are suffering because of it,” Melanie Ngaigoda, another displaced person said.

1,600 newly displaced households in #CARCrisis; 2,000 affected by crisis in #Congo; suicide bombers kill 8 #Nigeria https://t.co/mI5LrIGFT8

— OCHA W&C Africa (@OCHAROWCA) April 27, 2016

Aid agencies such as Action Against Hunger, which has been assisting malnourished children has appealed to other agencies for help.

“We live in tough conditions, and now the rainy season is here, we have had many tents that have been destroyed following strong winds, and displaced people are forced to sleep in the open, which is very dangerous for them,” Eric Tabasse, Mkopo camp co-ordinator and representative for Action Against Hunger said .

The UNHCR says over 450,000 people remain displaced in the CAR, including 48,000 in the capital Bangui.