he situation is chaotic and dramatic here in Kousseri, where currently there are some 70,000 refugees from Chad. They are everywhere, in the schools, churches, public buildings, on the streets, under trees. The more fortunate are staying with relatives or friends; some are headed toward Maroua, in the south, while few are attempting to return to their country. They are people in great difficulty that arrived with the bare minimum”, said Georges Alain, a representative of the Cameroon Red Cross, in describing to MISNA the situation in the city of Kousseri, along the northern border with Chad, literally invaded by civilians fleeing from the Chadian capital N’Djamena, theatre to fierce fighting in the past days.
“The United Nations agencies are working on registering all these people and considering setting up a refugee camp around 30km from here”, added the aid worker, specifying that 97 wounded refugees were
hospitalized in the local facility that only has 100 beds.
“The locals are understanding for the moment, though the arrival of tens of thousands of people generated a hike in all prices, from transport to basic necessities and products on the markets. It is impossible to hold classes in the schools since they are packed with refugees”, continued Alain.
Many families crossed the river-border on boats at night, because the bridge is closed; some of these boats capsized and people died, including children
About 5,000 people found refuge in the Catholic parish of Kousseri, part of the Yagoua diocese. “They need food and medical supplies; the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese is working on providing food, but it will take some time due to the enormous distances. Yagoua is 600km away”, said Sister Lucia of the St. Joseph of Cuneo congregation to the Fides news agency.
“Many families crossed the river-border on boats at night, because the bridge is closed; some of these boats capsized and people died, including children”, referred the missionary sister.
“Let’s hope that the situation improves in Chad and that these people can return home; we are however planning long-term assistance for around 50,000 people”, said to MISNA Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), giving details on the ordered material: 50,000 mattresses and the same number of blankets, 10,000 mosquito nets, 10,000 tents, 10,000 cooking utensils, 25,000 doses of vaccines against meningitis and measles, medicine, syringes, water pumps and more.“
The situation in the city is gradually returning to normal; those who have fled to Cameroon are starting to return to N’Djamena. They had gotten themselves into a terrible situation, at least here they can find something”, said an anonymous source to MISNA. While, life slowly returns to normal in N’djamena, more fighting has been reported in the outskirts.
“The radio said that the rebels would still be around the city and that they are some 30 km. away. Various helicopters have been flying between the airport and the area in question” said the source. Meanwhile, while we await for the official figures, the Red Cross have given an estimate of the toll of destruction resulting from the fighting between the rebels and the army last weekend. The Red Cross says that about 100 corpses were recovered from the streets of the capital. However, local sources have suggested that the number of dead could be far higher. Our source said that he witnessed, in front of the national radio headquarters, “at least 30 bodies.
Many of them are still inside their burned vehicles on the side of the road. I Imagine that this is similar in other parts of the city” adding that all people he has met during the past few hours has told the story of having lost a relative or an acquaintance. As calm returns to the capital, the unabashed looting of recent days appeared to have stopped. “the radio has called looters to return what they have taken, threatening repercussions; a collection point has been set up and people have been returning couches, tubes, tools, boxes full of megaphones and what have you” said the source. Government buildings or those in some way tied to politics were the biggest target of the looting.
(From MISNA)