Contact: Marcal Izard, ICRC Geneva, (+41) 22-730-2458, (+41) 79-217-3224

AFRICA, July 31 /Standard Newswire/ -- Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by fighting in the northwest of Central African Republic (C.A.R.) where conflict has continued for the past 18 months between the Central African Armed Forces, the Security Forces and rebels from the Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy, (Armée pour la restauration de la République et la démocratie, APRD). Since autumn 2006, the rebellion has spread from the northwest towards the centre of the country and the APRD are now active in areas around the towns of Kaga Bandoro as well as in Paoua.

Estimates vary hugely as to the exact number of people displaced by the fighting. Tens of thousands are known to have fled from villages threatened with attack, or where fighting has taken place. Many villages have been burned down and possessions, crops and livestock stolen. The villagers fleeing the conflict have mostly sought refuge deep in the forest, close to their fields. Even though the security situation is now calmer, people from Bodoli – and other villages all along the route to Paoua town - still do not feel safe enough to return home.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, (ICRC), is providing much needed help to displaced villagers. Conditions in the makeshift forest shelters are dire. People are living without enough food, often without clean water, and with practically no way to get medical help if they fall sick. According to 24 year old Gérard Kembi Nangindo, who fled from Bodoli village more than a year ago with his family of five children, "Here in the bush we live like animals... we drink from the same source as the animals and we have to look for food like they do in the bush."

The rainy season has started, turning forest roads into quagmires. Getting relief trucks to the distribution sites is a major challenge. On the way to reach hundreds of displaced families waiting for relief goods to be given out in Boymandja on 9 July, Red Cross workers had to dig their lorry out of the mud.

The ICRC's distribution programme for household items targets 100,000 people across northwest and central C.A.R. Help is given to the displaced families living in the bush as well as to those living with relatives or being sheltered by host families. People whose houses have been burnt down get kitchen utensils and tarpaulins as well as household items, including sleeping mats, blankets, soap and large aluminium basins.

In the village of Boymandja, Hachille Monfere Zango (20) is one of the villagers queuing up for aid. She returns briefly to the burnt-out shell of her old home. She fled to the forest with her four children during attacks on her village in November 2006. After she left, her house was burned down and her husband was killed. In order to survive she works in other people's fields. Her major concern is for her children's health - there are no medical facilities anywhere within reach. She has no idea how she will rebuild her house when she can finally go home, having lost everything in the attacks.

The combination of conflict and instability means that business and commerce is grinding to a halt. In northwest CAR, the ICRC tries to support the local economy buying goods and farm tools locally. The blacksmith's forge in Paoua, in northwest C.A.R. is working flat out to complete an ICRC order for 28,000 hoes. The tools are being given out to displaced families so they can work their fields and provide their own food. 22,000 hoes have so far been delivered. ICRC delegate Michael Dürst visits the blacksmith's forge in Paoua town regularly to check progress.

In Bodoli, hoes were given out to displaced families living rough in the forest on 12 July. It was the first time people had come back to the village en masse since they fled into the bush over a year ago. They return to the bush at the end of the day. They are too frightened of further attacks to go home permanently.

Forest living is not alien to the people of northern and central C.A.R. During peak periods in the farming year, labourers often camp out in the fields, but never for prolonged periods, nor with their entire families as is happening now. The onset of the rainy season is making life even more difficult, particularly for the children who are vulnerable to disease and far from medical care. The future for the villagers living rough in the forests of northwest CAR looks more uncertain the longer they stay away from their permanent homes.

ICRC Facts and figs:

- The ICRC's distribution programme for household items is targeting 100,000 people across northwest and central C.A.R.

- The distributions began in 2006 in the northwest, and in early 2007 in central C.A.R. The ongoing programme around Kaga Bandoro is scheduled to be completed in August 2007.

- Household items include sleeping mats, blankets, tarpaulins, kitchen utensils, metal basins, mosquito nets and soap

- The supplies have been airlifted from the ICRC's logistics base in Kenya, or brought by truck from the ICRC regional delegation in Yaounde, Cameroun. The soap and metal basins have been purchased locally in Bangui

- The distributions in this footage took place on 9th July in Boimanja, near Kaga Bandoro (household items)

- The ICRC is distributing 28,000 hoes to displaced farmers in villages around Paoua and Maconda in northwest C.A.R. The programme will be completed in August 2007

- The ICRC has been present in C.A.R. since 1997. New offices were opened in Kaga Bandoro in January 2007 to meet growing needs in the central region of C.A.R.

- The ICRC is about to open an office in Birao, in the northeast of C.A.R.

- Currently there are 18 ICRC expatriates and 48 national staff based in Bangui, Paoua, Kaga Bandoro and Bangassou