According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 30,000 people in northern Cameroon have fled to Chad as a result of violence over the weekend that killed at least 22 people.
A conflict between herders, fisherman, and farmers over decreasing water resources erupted in violence in the border community of Ouloumsa on Sunday, according to a UNHCR statement issued from Geneva on Friday.
It subsequently extended to nearby communities, with ten of them being burned to the ground.
Thousands have been displaced as a result of the clashes, with the UNHCR reporting that “more than 30,000 people have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.”
“At least 22 people have been killed and 30 others seriously injured during several days of ongoing fighting.”
The conflict is taking place in Logone-Chari, in Cameroon’s Far North Region, on the land bridge between Nigeria to the west and Chad to the east.
The UN figures for people requesting asylum, as well as the death toll, are significantly higher than those reported by other sources on Wednesday.
At least 3,000 refugees were reported by the Chadian Red Cross, with the number likely to rise, while Cameroonian authorities indicated at least four people had perished.
According to the UNHCR, about 80% of the new arrivals are women, many of whom are pregnant, and children.
They have taken refuge in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, and communities along the Logone River’s eastern bank.
At least 10,000 people have fled to N’Djamena from Kousseri, a town of 200,000 people whose cattle market was destroyed in violence, according to the UNHCR.
Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, the head of Chad’s military government, made a statement on Wednesday calling the situation “worrying” and pleading with international donors to assist the refugees.
In August, herders and fishermen clashed, resulting in 45 deaths and an exodus of at least 10,000 refugees into Chad.
According to Cameroonian authorities, the conflict erupted over management and access to water, as it did in the most recent episode.
In comparison to Chad and Nigeria, where fighting over resources between semi-nomadic herders and sedentary farmers is common, violent conflict between ethnic groups is comparatively rare in Cameroon.
