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15 February 2015 Senior UN, European Union relief officials urge protection for vulnerable people in Central African Republic

While a major scaling up of humanitarian action over the past year meant that “the worst has been avoided” in Central African Republic, senior United Nations and European Union relief officials in the region today stressed that needs are still extremely high and much remains to be done to ease the “appalling” suffering faced by the country's people.

In a press release issued in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), the joint high-level mission drew attention to the human suffering and called for greater access to and better protection of vulnerable communities amid what has transformed into a deeply complex and increasingly multi-layered crisis.

Participating in the five day mission were Deputy UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Chaloka Beyani, and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) Director of Operations, Jean-Louis de Brouwer.

The officials saw for themselves the “appalling” living conditions of people directly affected by the current crisis during their visits to Bambari, Yaloke, Mpoko and PK5 in Bangui, and acknowledged that while much has changed since conflict erupted more than a year ago amid a significant scaling up of humanitarian action, the need for assistance remains extremely high.

More than two years of civil war and sectarian violence have displaced thousands of people in the CAR. Some 190,000 have sought asylum across the borders amid continuing violent clashes between the mainly Muslim Slka alliance and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian. Meanwhile, more than 36,000 people remain trapped in enclaves across the landlocked country, hoping to find asylum in neighbouring States.

More than 2.7 million Central Africans require one form or another of external help to survive. Some 500,000 are still displaced. Those that remain trapped by the continued violence are in an ever more precarious and desperate situation. The crisis has grown in complexity and, among other things, armed groups are fragmenting into numerous bands resulting in widespread banditry.

The situation of vulnerable civilians becomes more intractable and subject to rumours and political manipulation that exacerbate violence. “Improved and reliable communication with all communities is key in this situation of deep fear and mistrust,” asserted Ms. Kan, who is also the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

She went on to express deep concern for the fate of the many pockets of minorities and displaced civilians whose return to a normal and dignified life is impeded by this growing complexity. For the IDPs that remain in the Mpoko site at Bangui's airport, humanitarians are committed to working with authorities to find alternative solutions based on their informed and voluntary decisions.

For Muslim minorities confined in clearly delimited neighborhoods in Bangui and other towns such as Berberati, engagement in the otherwise laudable efforts of popular consultations in the Bangui Forum seems remote and reinsertion in the social and economic fabric of the country is only still a very distant proposition. At the same time, for nomadic Fulani cattle herders trapped by the conflict in such places as Yaloke, their very way of life is threatened as they languish in appalling conditions in enclaves.

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Senior UN, European Union relief officials urge protection for vulnerable people in Central African Republic