{"id":17127,"date":"2021-09-24T11:40:43","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T11:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndarason.com\/?p=17127"},"modified":"2021-09-24T11:40:43","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T11:40:43","slug":"breeders-and-fishermen-conflict-oundouma-refugees-benefit-from-humanitarian-assistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/breeders-and-fishermen-conflict-oundouma-refugees-benefit-from-humanitarian-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Breeders and fishermen conflict: Oundouma refugees benefit from humanitarian assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many displaced people <\/em>in the far north of Cameroon still need assistance more than a month after a land dispute on August 10 in the Logone-Birni district resulted in violent and deadly clashes between the Mouzgoum fishermen and the Choa Arab herders.<\/p>\n

Health workers in the region immediately responded. Twelve people were killed and about 100 were wounded and were rushed to hospitals in Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em>, a Cameroon border town. Roughly 30,000 people fled from their homes.<\/p>\n

Villages were left looted and burnt leading residents to seek refuge in the Cameroonian district of Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em> and across the border in Chad.<\/p>\n

ReliefWeb, the humanitarian information service provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA<\/em>), said in a report published on September 21 that more than a month after tensions had eased, humanitarian needs remained as the rainy season had brought a peak in the number of malaria\u00a0cases as well as diarrhoea diseases, with a significant risk of cholera.<\/p>\n

Given the recurrent flooding in the area, the displaced people were particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn collaboration with the Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em> Health District, M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF\/ Doctors Without Borders) intervened in the first days of the clashes, enabling the hospital in Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em> to provide better care for the injured,\u201d said Ball\u00e9 Diouf, head of MSF\u2019s emergency project in Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support MSF provided by referring injured patients with serious cases to [the Chadian capital of] N\u2019Djamena has relieved the patients, families and staff at the hospital in Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em>. This has made it possible to save the lives of patients who would otherwise [might not have received] appropriate care in Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the fighting began, MSF sent two doctors, two nurses, and a clinical psychologist, with a coordinating team, to care for injured and displaced people in the villages of Missika, Madiako and the Logone-Birni district,\u201d Diouf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also donated emergency medical kits to treat 55 wounded people and an ambulance to transfer the seriously injured from the regional hospital in Kouss\u00e9ri<\/em> to N\u2019Djamena.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diouf said that since the end of August, MSF\u2019s presence had been reduced but that it was continuing to work with other aid agencies to assess the needs.<\/p>\n

ReliefWeb said: \u201cMost of the people displaced by the fighting were forced to leave their possessions behind when they fled their homes, walking several kilometres to reach safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main health problems identified by the MSF teams were malaria, diarrhoea and child malnutrition.<\/p>\n

The MSF carried out a total of 1,972 medical consultations in Oundouma and Gamakotoko, and 33 patients, including wounded people, pregnant women and severely malnourished children, were referred to hospital facilities, such as the intensive therapeutic nutritional unit, supported by MSF across the border in N\u2019Djamena.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have since passed the baton to other actors who are mobilising to continue to provide care to meet the medical needs of displaced people and host populations alike along the Chadian banks of the Logone River,\u201d Diouf said.<\/p>\n

The administrative and traditional authorities of Chad and Cameroon, accompanied by humanitarian workers, went on Thursday, September 16, to Oundouma, which hosts many of the refugees.\u00a0Their aim was to talk to them about voluntary repatriation, which is now in the process of being initiated.<\/p>\n

The Cameroonian delegation was represented by the prefect of Logone and Chari, Ndongo Ndongo Lazare, who wanted to reassure refugee residents that calm had returned.<\/p>\n

\u201cCameroon has taken measures both in terms of health and food.\u00a0Our compatriots can reach their localities with confidence<\/em>,\u201d he said, emphasising that repatriation should be voluntary and that each person would have agree to return home or not.<\/p>\n

The governor of the province of Chari-Baguirmi, Gayang Souar\u00e9, was led the Chadian delegation.\u00a0The complaints of the refugees, according to him, were legitimate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must accompany you so that you get real information about what to expect on your return.\u00a0I am in regular contact with the governor of the far north who has reassured me about the arrangements made to ensure the safety of returning citizens,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n

Discussions between the parties involved in the process will continue to consolidate the modalities for the return of the refugees.<\/p>\n