30,000 flee C Africa over election unrest: UN

GENEVA: More than 30,000 people have been forced to flee the Central African Republic due to violence surrounding its elections, the UN said on Friday, and tens of thousands more have been internally displaced.

UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, said those who have left the CAR for neighbouring countries needed urgent assistance with water, shelter, health care and sanitation. More than 24,000 crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while nearly 4,500 arrived in Cameroon, a further 2,200 in Chad and about 70 in the Republic of Congo.

"The UN Refugee Agency is concerned that violence and insecurity surrounding the December 27 general election in the CAR has forced over 30,000 people to flee" across the borders, spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva.