Photo Credit: Refugees International\ Rick Neal
03/13/2007

As the rainy season approaches, some two hundred thousand people throughout the northern tier of the Central African Republic (CAR) face more months of hardship in makeshift shelters in forests and fields away from their home villages. The length of their displacement ranges from almost two years to just a few months, but the persistence of violence in the region is preventing people from returning and beginning to rebuild. Despite increasing awareness among international agencies of the needs and vulnerabilities of the displaced, actual humanitarian response --- both in terms of programs initiated and agencies present --- remains feeble. Immediate, significant efforts are essential to avert a crisis. As this village leader told Refugees International, "We are suffering."