53 national birth certificate , issued with the help of UNHCR, were also handed over to these people, the UN agency announced on its social media pages.More than 15,000 people were forced to move inside the country to flee the violence between the Mousgoum and Choa Arab communities at the end of last year, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 14 December 2021.

OCHA said at the time that about 11,500 were in the Logone-et-Chari division and nearly 3,500 in the Diamaré department. UNHCR says that many of them have lost “vital documents” during the conflicts, including birth certificates, which are needed, for example, to enrol their children in school.

“Part of UNHCR’s response is to facilitate the release of these documents,” the agency says. The aim is for these displaced people to be able to prove their right to citizenship and associated rights, such as the right to stay in the country. Last December’s violence between herders, fishermen and farmers left 44 people dead, more than 100 injured and 112 villages burned, forcing 30,000 people to flee to neighbouring Chad, according to UNHCR.