West and Central Africa — Central African Republic Situation Monthly Dashboard 23 (August 2024)

The Central African Republic (CAR), which has experienced continuous volatility for the past two decades, has been riddled by a crisis which ignited in 2012 with a violent takeover of power and has developed into a complex protracted state of permanent insecurity and fragility which has spilled over into neighbouring countries. The crisis is characterized by power struggles amongst elites, the absence of state institutions and public investment, religious and ethnic tensions and disputes for the control of key resources. Moreover, the crisis in Sudan, which started in April 2023, is affecting the eastern part of the CAR witnessing arrivals of displaced populations.

As of August 2024, 4,039,349 individuals were affected, including 467,006 internally displaced persons (12% of the displaced population), 2,256,970 returnees former IDPs (56%), 531,919 returnees from abroad (13%) and 783,394 refugees (19%). In the CAR, the largest displaced population consists of former IDP returnees. Refugees from the CAR are primarily hosted by Cameroon (346,061 individuals, or 47% of the refugees), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (208,276 individuals, or 28% of the refugees) and Chad (138,225 individuals, or 19% of the refugees). Nonetheless, 11,008 refugees from the Central African Republic are still living in Sudan (2% of the refugees). The country is also home for refugees from neighbouring countries, hosting a total of 43,017 refugees coming from Sudan (29,043 individuals), the DRC (6,448 individuals), Chad (4,701 individuals) and South Soudan (2,825 individuals).