Children are starving to death in Central African Republic because violence has forced aid workers to pull out, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the country said on Tuesday
Four years after a conflict began between Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian “anti-balaka” militias, Central African Republic had seemed calm in the early part of the year, Reuters reports.
Violence in the CAR has flared since May turning the southeast into a no-go zone.
But violence has flared since May, turning the southeast into a virtual no-go area.
“There is no humanitarian assistance there. It’s not even half, it’s nothing, because it was just not possible for humanitarians to stay there,” coordinator Najat Rochdi said. “We started already seeing children dying from severe malnutrition.” This according to the report.
Lack of funds had already forced aid workers to halve food aid and in some places stop it completely, despite widespread malnutrition in children under five-years-old.
Rochdi said that so far 10 children have died from malnutrition, though they are yet to confirm. He further said that the lack of humanitarians present in the area, made it difficult to confirm that.
The latest U.N. humanitarian report said four children had been abducted and killed in the town of Bambari, their bodies found with their organs removed, which has been linked to suspicion of witchcraft.
The number of displaced people has jumped by 50 percent to 600,000 this year, in addition to 500,000 who have fled into neighbouring countries.
According to Rochdi, 400,000 children were not going to school.
The UN is trying to clear out weapons and fighters in camps, a fertile recruitment ground for armed groups, and hosts close to 30,000 displaced people.
The United States and Uganda withdrew their forces after declaring victory in April against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a marauding gang notorious for abducting and recruiting child soldiers.
Rochdi said their withdrawal “left a vacuum” and LRA attacks had continued sporadically.
