ReliefWeb

A. Situation Analysis

Description of the disaster

Since 5 December 2021, intercommunity clashes broke out in the Far North region of Cameroon, displacing thousands of people internally and forcing thousands to flee to neighbouring Chad. On 8 December, fighting broke out in the Cameroonian town of Kousseri, a commercial centre with some 200,000 inhabitants. According to the National Commission for the Reception and Reintegration of Refugees and Returnees (CNARR) and the UNHCR, 82,637 Cameroonians had found refuge in Chadian territory by 12 December 2021. Of these, 45,637 are reported in the urban areas of N'Djamena while 37,000 in rural areas. Most of these people fled the town of Kousseri to N'djamena, the capital city of Chad, located a few kilometres across the Chari and Logone rivers, the natural boundaries between Chad and Cameroon. At least 22 people were killed and 30 seriously wounded in several days of continuous fighting in Cameroon with at least 15,000 people internally displaced in other localities in the departments of Logone and Chari, Diamaré and MayoDanay in Cameroon.

Clashes broke out in the border village of Ouloumsa following a dispute between cattle rearers, fishermen and farmers over dwindling water resources. Violence spread to neighbouring villages. In total, 10 villages were burnt down. Eighty percent (80%) of the new arrivals are women – many of whom are pregnant – and children (ongoing registration of displaced persons under the aegis of UNHCR and CNARR). They found refuge in N'djamena and in villages along the Chadian side of the Logone River.

Security forces were dispatched to the Far-North region of Cameroon, and for the Chadian side, to the crisis zone, but the situation remains volatile. UNHCR was forced to suspend its operations in the affected areas.

Chadian authorities reaffirmed their hospitality towards the new arrivals. UNHCR and other UN agencies and humanitarian partners, including the Red Cross of Chad (RCC) and its Movement partners, hurriedly provided emergency assistance to the refugees. The wounded were admitted to two hospitals in N'Djamena.

The first outbreak of inter-communal violence occurred in August 2021. At that time, 45 people were killed and 23,000 forcibly displaced, of whom 8,500 have remained in Chad since then. These sporadic inter-community violence episodes are recurrent and the displaced generally return to their countries/villages once calm is restored. The difficulty this time is due to the high number of displaced (almost 100,000 in less than a week).

Climate crisis is exacerbating tensions in the Far-North region of Cameroon. According to UNHCR, the surface area of Lake Chad – of which the Logone River is the main tributary – shrunk by 95 % in recent decades. Fishermen and farmers dug vast trenches to hold back the remaining water in the river so that they can fish and farm, but these muddy trenches trap and sometimes kill the livestock of pastoralists, leading to tension and fighting

To urgently respond to this dramatic situation, RCC requested DREF funds – to the tune of CHF 263,377– from the International Federation to provide the affected populations with assistance that respects humanitarian standards and complements the response of other actors working in the region.