Brussels, 12/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is sending urgently needed medical assistance to the Central African Republic (CAR). A plane carrying 37 tonnes of relief supplies will leave Brussels for the CAR capital Bangui on Saturday 14 December. This new airlift operation comes on top of a humanitarian air bridge operated by the EU between Bangui and Douala (Cameroon) - (see EUROPE 10980).
“The entire population is affected - and the number of people displaced in Bangui alone has increased by 130,000 in the space of only a few days. We must get assistance to them now”, said European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva. Three humanitarian non-governmental organisations - Médecins du Monde (MDM) and the Dutch and French sections of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - are involved in the airlift. The emergency aid being flown in principally comprises medical supplies. The aid airlift from Europe comes a few days after the Commission's ECHO Flight air service established a humanitarian air bridge, opening up a line of support between Douala and Bangui. A CRJ 2000 jet aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers or five tonnes of cargo is doing daily return flights. (LC/transl.fl)