News Analyis - Keeping a Crisis At Bay

Several villages along the Cameroon-CAR border in the East Region are now literally invaded by hordes of refugees fleeing the civil strife in that neighbouring country. Relief agencies and the local administrative authorities speak of huge numbers often in tens of thousands.

Of course, the sudden situation is creating a lot of inconveniences to the local population already unable to meet the challenges of poverty which they have to fight on a daily basis. The nature of the land may be good for a supply of reasonable quantities of food, but having to feed thousands of people at very short notice can be a very difficult challenge to overcome. At times, the food may be available, but preparing it for consumption or distributing it to the needy can also be a cause for concern.

The highly precarious nature of the situation calls for very special measures because no one can tell beforehand from where danger can come. If too much attention is given to food, trouble could rather come from health and if too much attention is given to the quality of lodging, trouble could come from the lack of adequate security measures.

Other areas of concern are the special care numerous children caught in this situation are facing by way of health and nutrition and the fact that they are out of school. There are other scourges linked to promiscuity such as stealing, sex and the easy transmission of diseases. Officials overseeing the situation have so far worked with the required alacrity; but the immensity of the tasks ahead clearly informs that it will take more than that.

There has to be a veritable national as well as international awareness and sensitization about the plight of these people by way of financial support and the mobilization of volunteers to accompany these displaced people. And such care must be in key emergency areas as health and sanitation, access to drinking water, availability of food, care of children and security. It is only by ensuring that all these concerns are properly addressed that a looming humanitarian crisis of multifarious dimensions can be averted.