West and Central Africa — Central African Republic Situation Monthly Dashboard #8 (May 2023)

The Central African Republic, 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. More recently, the crisis in Sudan, which started in April 2023, is affecting the eastern part of the Central African Republic witnessing arrivals of displaced populations. As of May 2023, 3,799,975 individuals were affected, including 488,861 internally displaced persons (13% of the displaced population), 2,063,885 returnees former IDPs (54%), 503,019 returnees from abroad (13%) and 744,210 refugees in neighbouring countries (20%). In the Central African Republic, the largest displaced population consists of former IDP returnees as observed. Refugees from the Central African Republic are primarily hosted by Cameroon (350,780 individuals, or 47% of the refugees), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (210,238 individuals, or 28% of the refugees) and Chad (126,252 individuals, or 17% of the refugees). Nonetheless, 24,370 refugees from the Central African Republic are still living in Sudan (24,370 individuals). Since the beginning of the Sudan crisis, a total of 4,071 Central Africans have returned to their country of origin through the border in Am-Dafock, representing 4 per cent of returns from abroad.