“Sickness and death rates in the anarchic Central African Republic (CAR), which are already triple the emergency threshold, are likely to soar with the arrival of the rains, nine humanitarian agencies said on Friday, appealing for $80 million in aid,” Thomson Reuters Foundation reports. “Despite widespread hunger and the rebels’ suspension of health services, the world has largely turned its back on the tiny nation, the agencies said,” the news service writes, adding, “CAR remains deeply unstable following a coup in March, the latest of many military interventions and mutinies.” Reuters notes, “Before the escalation of the conflict in December, CAR already had the third highest infant mortality rate in the world,” and writes, “The entire population of 4.6 million people is in need of aid because the limited services that existed before the rebel takeover have now been suspended, [a statement from Dieudonne Nzapalainga, the archbishop of CAR capital Bangui,] said.” The news service adds, “Over the last six months, some 200,000 people have been displaced and are largely without food, shelter or medical care, the nine agencies said,” noting, “There are fears that the forgotten crisis in CAR could destabilize the entire region as it borders six other fragile states, such as Chad, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which would struggle to manage an inflow of refugees” (Migiro, 6/28).