GAROUA-BOULAI, Cameroon – Sitting at the bar of a hotel in Garoua-Boulaï, a small town in eastern Cameroon on the border with the Central African Republic, a middle-aged man makes a series of phone calls. Just a few weeks ago, he was a candidate in legislative elections in the Central African town of Bouar. 

Insurgent incursions and violence put an end to his campaign. Together with many other inhabitants of the town, including farmers, merchants and civil servants, he had to flee in the direction of Cameroon. 

“Now I’m stuck. The road is blocked,” explains the man*, who is now looking for a flight back to Bangui, the Central African capital.

• See also: Number of Central African refugees soars as violence intensifies

For several weeks, no traffic has passed on the main road between Douala in Cameroon and Bangui, as evidenced by the dozens of cargo trucks parked on the roadside in Cameroon. 

Electoral violence in late December pushed some 60,000 Central Africans to seek safety in neighbouring countries.  

While most have fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nearly 5,000 refugees have trekked through the bush to reach neighbouring Cameroon, avoiding the road and armed groups. Thousands more have sought safety in Chad, and the Republic of Congo.