Central African Republic: New displacement due to ongoing conflict and banditry

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^{31 December 2008}

The number of people displaced within the Central African Republic fell in 2008 as ceasefire agreements between the government and rebel groups led to an “Inclusive Political Dialogue” in Bangui in December between the government, its political and armed opposition, and civil society. However, neither the army nor international troops have been able to protect civilians from attacks by road bandits, causing new displacements and affecting the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Over 100,000 people were still displaced at the end of 2008 in northern CAR, though almost as many had returned to their villages of origin during the year, as had about 4,000 people who had fled to Chad. With the exception of the residents of the one IDP site in the town of Kabo, most IDPs were dispersed in remote rural towns after periods of living in small groups in the bush without social services. They were relying almost entirely on these host communities for support.

The political conflict broke out in 2005 between the government of president François Bozizé and armed opposition groups seeking representation and power sharing. However, in 2008, human rights abuses caused by road bandits known as “coupeurs de route” or Zaraguina became the main cause of internal displacement. OCHA estimates that a third of all people displaced in CAR were displaced by road bandits operating with impunity in the absence of government forces.

Since 2005, IDPs in CAR have suffered from a range of human rights violations and abuses, including unlawful killings, the looting and destruction of their villages and fields, loss of livelihoods, sexual violence, and the abduction and recruitment of children. All armed groups have perpetrated these crimes. Government forces committed atrocities against civilians until late 2007 in retaliation for their support of opposition groups which, as the de facto authorities in some areas, punished civilians when their authority was not respected. The road bandits have in turn committed atrocities for financial gain; and selfdefence militias, created with the support of the government in response to attacks by road bandits, have recruited children.

Although 85,000 IDPs returned home in 2008, durable solutions will be unattainable until north-western CAR is more secure. The primary challenge facing the government is to re-establish and strengthen state presence by restoring services including health care, water and sanitation, and primary education, and by training, outfitting and deploying security forces to protect communities including those displaced.

There are no laws or policies to protect IDPs, but CAR has ratified the Great Lakes Pact and is expected to enact an IDP law by December 2009 which should incorporate the Guiding Principles. This law is being drafted with the support of UNHCR and the National Commission for Refugees.

International military forces deployed as peacekeeping troops have had little impact in areas of displacement. The regional peacekeeping forces FOMUC and subsequently MICOPAX have attempted to provide security by patrolling main roads, but their numbers and area of operations have been limited. In 2008, a European Union force was deployed to Chad and CAR with a Security Council mandate to protect refugees and IDPs affected by the spill-over of violence from Darfur, and to safeguard the delivery of humanitarian assistance. However only 250 EUFOR troops were deployed, near the north-eastern border with Sudan, and road bandits and conflict have mostly caused displacement near the borders with Chad and Cameroon.

UN agencies and international NGOs provide protection and assistance to conflict-affected communities in CAR, and some are also working on early recovery and development programmes. The cluster approach was implemented in CAR in July 2007. Since then, ten clusters have been activated, grouped under the Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT), a platform that has been instrumental in increasing visibility and funding. However the Humanitarian Coordinator has yet to ensure a coordinated response to the needs of IDPs, and continued lobbying is still needed for urgent humanitarian resources and funding for assistance programmes that improve the living conditions of IDPs in particular.

10 December 2009: Rise in abduction of aid workers hits assistance to IDPs

A string of abduction of aid workers in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) has led six humanitarian agencies in Chad to suspend activities, and three in CAR to relocate field staff to safety in the capital Bangui. The suspensions have left more than 37,000 IDPs without assistance.

In Chad, an abducted staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) remains in captivity, as does another ICRC worker seized in Darfur in October. ICRC has decided to scale down its operations in the region to protect its staff. In CAR, two aid workers with the NGO Triangle are still in captivity, while a third hostage from the NGO Comité d’Aide Médicale was released shortly after being taken. A group calling itself the “Eagles of African Liberation” has claimed responsibility for the abductions. The US Department of State has issued a travel warning to Chad, emphasising that the government and UN peacekeeping troops have been unable to stop criminal gangs attacking humanitarian workers.

Meanwhile, an attack in CAR by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killed dozens of people in the latest wave of reprisals by the rebel group across CAR, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Uganda. The LRA is retaliating against a Ugandan army crackdown after twenty years of insurgency. The Government of CAR has allowed Ugandan special forces to hunt down rebels within its territory.

Internal armed conflict between government forces and various armed groups in northern areas of the Central African Republic (CAR) caused the internal displacement of over 200,000 people by 2007. Following peace agreements, their number fell to around 108,000 by February 2009, but since then clashes between the army and a splinter rebel group, and attacks against civilians by criminal gangs, have caused new displacement. As of October 2009, the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) was estimated at over 162,000, including over 73,000 people who were trying to return to their homes but had not yet found durable solutions for return.

IDPs in CAR have suffered from a range of human rights abuses, including killings, the looting and burning of villages, destruction of fields, loss of livelihoods, sexual violence, and the abduction and recruitment of children. Members of all armed groups have perpetrated these crimes. Each wave of IDPs has been forced to take shelter in fields and forests without access to basic services, before seeking support from impoverished host communities when it has been safe to do so. (...)

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^{22 December 2009}