The remote town of Birao, Central African Republic, sits close to the borders of Chad and Sudan. As a result, it has seen thousands of refugees fleeing Sudan’s civil war cross the border.
“I left with just my children and the clothes on our backs. Our possessions, our home, we had to leave it all behind,” a woman named Fatma told the United Nations Refugee Agency, recalling her journey from Nyala, in Sudan’s South Darfur State, to Birao. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed the borders in search of safety since the Sudanese civil war began in April 2023. Many have fled to Chad and Egypt. More than 16,000 have entered the CAR, which is not without its own problems. Birao has seen conflict between rival ethnic groups for more than five years. More than 24,000 have fled the city for camps for displaced people, according to Acted, a private nonprofit humanitarian group. Serving amid this mix of conflict and upheaval is the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic. More than 16,000 uniformed Soldiers and police officers serve in the mission, including more than 700 from the Zambian Defence Force. Zambia’s contingent spent August 2024 patrolling around Birao, meeting civilians and business owners to build relationships. Zambia’s forces have served in the mission since 2015.
