Ethnic cleansing instead of a genocide – No effective protection for the civilian population

The Society for Threatened Peoples criticizes the lack of protection for the oppressed Muslims in the Central African Republic. "It is cynical of the French military representatives to announce that the security situation in the civil war country has stabilized," said Ulrich Delius, the STP's Africa-consultant, in Göttingen on Wednesday. "A genocide was only averted by accepting ethnic cleansing and a forced exodus of more than 100,000 Muslims – not exactly a success in protecting the civilian population. The expelled Muslims, who have often been living in the country for decades, are paying a high price for the so-called stabilization of the state." In interviews, the commander of the French "Sangaris" Forces, General Francisco Soriano, seemed confident and announced that the security situation had improved significantly – despite the forced exodus of the religious minority group.

But Soriano's perception contradicts all the valuations of the human rights and humanitarian organizations. According to the World Food Programme of the United Nations and other aid agencies, 76,000 people fled to Chad since December 2013, about 62,000 to the Democratic Republic of Congo, 35,000 to Cameroon and 12,000 to the Republic of Congo. Several thousand citizens of other countries in western and northern African countries have fled from the ongoing violence in the Central African Republic. A majority of the refugees are Muslims. A few months ago, the members of this religious minority made up about 15 percent of the 4.6 million people living in the country, but their group has now become vanishingly small. In the Central African Republic, the Muslim people are not safe and have no freedom of movement. They are pursued by anti-Balaka militiamen and parts of the Christian majority who seek revenge for the human rights crimes of the Muslim Seleka militias.

About 8,000 Muslims are waiting in the city Bouar, hoping to be escorted safely to the state border by military forces. More than 15,000 Muslims are encircled by anti-Balaka militias in 18 regions throughout the country, unable to leave their shelters without foreign protection. The capital of Bangui once had a bustling Muslim community. Now, there are only about 3,200 Muslims left – trapped in the city's quarter PK12. Muslims who try to leave their hideouts are often chased to death, like Saleh Dido, the Muslim deputy Mayor of Mbaiki. On February 22, three Muslims were shot dead when they tried to leave PK12 in a taxi. Their driver, a Christian, was spared. On February 19, militiamen opened fire on a convoy of Muslim refugees who tried to leave PK12, killing 21 people.