World Food Programme and UNHCR provide life-saving assistance to people who've trekked for days to escape violence

The sheer vastness of the refugee camp at Gado-Badzere, 30 km from Cameroon’s eastern border with the Central African Republic — aka CAR — is a humbling sight. 

That’s where the refugees filing in on a rainy January morning hail from. Family heads lead the way as staff from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) take people’s names. The Government of Cameroon wants to ensure every registered refugee fleeing the violence in their homeland is accounted for. People who got here first welcome those just arriving. Everyone is hoping to spot a relative or a friend. Only occasionally does this happen, however.

Mariam, 65, is among those frantically looking out for family. A few days ago, armed men arrived in her hometown of Bouar, shooting and killing at random, she says. 

“I just joined the crowd of fleeing villagers until we got to the border with Cameroon,” says Mariam. “We trekked for over three days.”

Mariam is one of the 120,000 people from CAR who have fled their homeland following an upsurge in violence in December. Most fled across the border to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Around 5,000 crossed into Cameroon, where WFP already supports almost 600,000 people every month, including more than 200,000 refugees from CAR. More people are expected in coming weeks.

With support from USAID, WFP has already provided around 20 metric tons of foods such as rice, beans and vegetable oil, so the refugees can make their own meals and settle in. 

For Mariam, WFP rations are welcome news. She was stuck at the border for three days, tired of walking and with no hope of making the crossing. Confronted with hunger, she felt it was impossible to go back.