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Yacouba Dialo is going home.
Six years ago, fearing for his life as violence erupted in the Central African Republic (CAR), he fled to neighboring Cameroon, where he took refuge in a refugee camp.
He is now on a bus making the return trip.
But as with others on board, Dialo’s joy at coming home is mixed with worries for the future and the daunting feeling of being treated like a citizen environment.
The deeply troubled country holds presidential and legislative elections on December 27, and like 300,000 other refugees of voting age, Dialo will not be able to cast her vote.
“We feel left out of the elections,” said the 27-year-old, one of 200 refugees from the Central African Republic leaving Gado-Badzere, a vast camp in eastern Cameroon that is home to more than 23,000 people.
Returning home is a risky business in a country that plunged into a nightmarish war, etched on sectarian lines, following a coup in 2013.
Since 2018, the intensity of violence has decreased and attacks are more likely to target criminal gain. But armed groups still control about two-thirds of the country, often fighting for mineral resources and other forms of income.
The big favorite on Election Day is President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was elected in 2016 and rules with the help of a large UN peacekeeping force.
Security fears
The bus passengers were glued to the windows: adults overwhelmed by the sight of their country after so many years abroad and children bewildered by the trees and shrubs that slid by, after knowing only the desolation of a refugee camp.
A passenger holds the flag of the Central African Republic. The landlocked country is one of the poorest and most conflict-torn nations in the world. By – (AFP) Red Cross staff tried to control the noise level and distributed bottles of water.
One of the passengers was Awa Darvi, a frail-looking woman who looked much older than her 38 years, proudly holding a small CAR flag.
She admitted happiness and fear for the uncertain future of the country.
“Whoever wins, I want them to rule the country well and restore peace,” he said.
“If we can go back, it is because President Touadera has tried to restore peace,” said Moussa Hamadou Habid, a bricklayer by profession. “But what worries me is the armed groups.”
Adisa Ousmane, her face stained with tears, was traveling with her four children; he kept a tight grip on the smallest throughout the journey.
Ousmane, a Muslim, fled the war with her husband. He fears that he is still a target for the gunmen and decided to remain in the safety of the camp.
Zachari Aissa, 23, has spent six years, more than a quarter of her life, in the refugee camp. You are now returning to CAR. By – (AFP) “If the calm has really returned, I will tell you so you can return,” he said.
Muslims are a minority in this predominantly Christian nation. While many are prominent in business, they have also been historical victims of discrimination at the hands of the government.
“I have to think a bit about whether to go back. When I left the Central African Republic a year ago, there was still war,” said Inoussa Djibril, who said she preferred to stay in the camp for the moment.
Olivier Beer, representative of the UN refugee agency, stressed that all those who returned to the Central African Republic did so voluntarily.
“We do not repatriate to areas that are not completely safe,” he added.
Last year, 3,309 refugees chose to make the trip, and the 2020 count is just 700, according to UN figures.
I vote dismay
For some, the inability to cast a vote on December 27 was accompanied by a sense of powerlessness.
Crossing the border: the sign says “Cameroon says goodbye!” By – (AFP) “We wanted to vote this year because it is our country,” said Mohamat Badamassi, who fled to the camp in 2015.
Government spokesman Ange-Maxime Kazagui said that the coronavirus pandemic hampered the work of electoral teams that would have had to cross borders to reach the camps, and neighboring countries rejected the government’s request for help.
Refugees were allowed to vote in previous elections, but this was an exception, he said, arguing that in other countries, “refugees do not vote.”
