Central African Republic displaced exit camps for new settlements

These are the victims of the Central African Republic's long-running conflict. Some of them have been lived in displacement camps for years.

Working with the UN's refugee agency, the country's authorities are moving them from camps in major cities to settlements with bigger space and where they can grow their own food.

Internally Displaced Person Camps in the Central African Republic are beset by overcrowding. Authorities are also keen to reduce dependence on food rations.

"The advantage is that each household has its own plot of land, which is 20 meters by 15 meters, said Victor Bissekon, the administrator of Ouaka town.

The scheme dubbed integrated villages is still at its pilot stage and the first beneficiaries are being resettled here on the outskirts of the city of Bambari. 

They are given materials to build semi-permanent homes and are allocated pieces of land to grow food.

"It was very difficult in Bambari", said one woman who was setting up her house in the settlement. "It was difficult, now I am home and I am at peace," she added. 

So far, 492 households have been resettled here. The central African Republic has managed to rid major cities of armed groups, allowing some displaced persons to return to their homes. 

But the resettlement of victims in integrated villages has met resistance among some host communities.

_Thierry Nzam reports from Bambari _