In the month of June, new refugees have been registered in the neighbouring countries DRC and the Republic of the Congo (RoC), amounting to a total of 465,208.
The situation of internal displacement has seen a 6% decrease in the number of IDPs (399,268). However the humanitarian situation remains almost unchanged and the Central African population is still facing significant challenges as political transition continues.
On 19 June, the National Elections Authority (ANE) announced the date for presidential and legislative elections to be held on 18 October 2015. The Transition President of the CAR , on 29 June officially launched the registration process in Bangui and called on the population to register and to vote. As per reccomendations of the Resolution 2149 of the Security Council (April 2014), which underline the importance of refugees’ participation in the election, on 6 June, after a formal request from CAR authorities, UNHCR and the EU have provided inputs to revise the election law and in particular the conditions to be considered an eligible voter, in order to ensure that refugees can exercise their right to vote. At the same time IOM has the lead on IDPs’ participation in the elections.
In RoC the Min. of Foreign Affairs published a Note Verbale indicating that CAR individuals who will arrive in the country after 20 July 2015, will not benefit from Prima Facie refugee status, as it is currently the case, but will have to undergo individual refugee status determination. The rainy season is continuing and is causing more problems by destroying shelters in Chad; in DRC, in June, about 300 refugees every week, living near the rivers, were forced to relocate themselves to Bili/Bossoso camp.