UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The number of people displaced by conflict and natural disaster in Central and East Africa is now more than 11 million, the United Nations said yesterday.

The numbers have grown recently due to attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel fighters, and by ongoing hostilities in Somalia, the UN’s office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said. The figure of 11 million totals the number of refugees and internally displaced people across 16 countries in Central and East Africa.

Sudan accounts for the largest proportion, with over 4 million displaced, while the DRC and Somalia both have more than 1.3 million displaced people each, the UN said.

Other countries with displaced people include Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
The countries hosting the largest numbers of refugees in the region are Chad, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania, OCHA said. Each country hosted more than 250,000 refugees at the end of March, it said.