Bangassou, 15 January, 2026 / 9:44 pm (ACI Africa).
The People of God in the Zemio area of the Central African Republic (CAR) is becoming increasing difficult to access owing to violence, exacerbating the region's humanitarian situation especially for those in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Coadjutor Bishop of the country’s Catholic Diocese of Bangassou has said.
Bishop Aurelio Gazzera told the Information Service of Propaganda Fide, Agenzia Fides, that the number of IDPs in the region has reached 30,000, with more than 2,000 living in extreme poverty.
He said that many of the displaced individuals are scattered between the local Catholic mission in Zémio and the town of Zapaye, across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“In collaboration with our partners, such as Caritas, we are trying to prepare a shipment of food and basic necessities, but the real problem is getting aid to the people. It’s already complicated to get them to Bangassou,” Bishop Gazzera said in a Tuesday, January 13, Agenzia Fides report.
He said that the people have neither food nor other necessities, and the children have no access to education. Among those who fled last November were the 72 students of the Zémio high school, compared to 992 students the previous year.
