The situation in the Central African Republic (CAR)’s capital Bangui is ‘apocalyptic’ because rebels surround the city, says a former prime minister.
Martin Ziguélé said there was daily fighting in the country and that he could not leave Bangui without an armed escort.
The UN says more than 200,000 people have fled their homes since the conflict broke out last month.
Rebel forces now control two thirds of the country.
The CAR is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in Africa, although it is rich in resources such as diamonds and uranium. The UN estimates that about half of the population is dependent on humanitarian aid.
Rebel forces now surrounding Bangui dispute the validity of President Faustin Archange Touadéra’s re-election in December and want to oust him.
The city is defended by government forces backed by UN, Russian and Rwandan troops. A state of emergency was declared earlier this month.
Mr. Ziguélé, who came third in the poll, said everyone was focusing on keeping the main supply route between Bangui and Eastern Cameroon open.
“I can not leave Bangui … without a heavily armed army escort,” he told Reuters by telephone.
“Then imagine the population. Add the evening clock and the state of emergency. It’s really an apocalyptic situation,” he added.
Mr. Ziguélé welcomes a UN call for more peacekeeping forces, but says urgent talks are needed between all parties.
“A military recovery is not the only solution to tackling the security, humanitarian and economic crisis that threatens to put one of the world’s least developed countries in a full coma,” he said.
At least 12,000 peacekeepers are already on the ground in the CAR.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 92,000 refugees fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and more than 13,000 migrated to Cameroon, Chad and the Republic of the Congo. It is said that the rest were displaced within the CAR.
In Geneva, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told reporters that rebel attacks had hampered humanitarian access to Bangui and that many people were now experiencing “appalling conditions”.
Boris Cheshirkov, spokeswoman Boris Cheshirkov, said the disease had increased and some of the displaced were so desperate that they would trade sex for food.
Meanwhile, a regional body of 12 member states has called for a ceasefire and called on armed groups to ‘switch off from the Bangui area’.
The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region has warned that the crisis poses a serious threat to neighboring countries.