Exodus of 36,000 Muslims cannot be stopped forcibly – civilians need more protection

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demands a free departure for 36,000 Muslims from the Central African Republic who are being held in seven enclaves in Christian-dominated regions and cannot leave the country. "The traumatized members of the religious minority group must not be misused as hostages in the struggle for human rights in the Central African Republic," warned the STP's Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius in Göttingen on Monday. While the United Nations are trying to help the minority group to be able to leave soon, the Government of the Central African Republic is trying to prevent this by all means – in order to avoid accusations of ethnic cleansing. The STP has sent an urgent appeal to Marie-Thérèse Keita Bocoum, the UN expert on the human rights situation in the Central African Republic, to advocate for a free departure for the group of Muslims during her visit until February 14.

The STP also emphasized that the civilian population in the rural regions is in desperate need of better protection. In January 2015 alone, about 30,000 people fled from the provinces of Ouaka and Basse-Kotto in the south of the country – which are embattled by Seleka- and anti-Balaka militiamen – to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The refugees, most of them Christians, reported countless rapes, kidnappings, murder, arson and lootings committed by the Muslim Seleka-militias. Even hospitals are burned and Children are murdered at random. "The fact that the capital Bangui is relatively safe does not apply to the whole country," said Delius. In the middle of the country, where the militias are fighting to expand their influence zones, the war has been going on for more than two years. "There, the civilian population has not yet seen much of the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA."

According to the United Nations, about 440,000 people are still on the run in the Central African Republic. More than 424,000 people have sought refuge in neighboring countries, among them more than 100,000 Muslims. The UN also states that more than 36,000 Muslims are still trapped in enclaves, waiting to be evacuated from the country for months. Most of them have sought refuge in Bangui's PK5-District (24,000 people) or in camps in Boda (9000) and Bouar (1600). Smaller groups of up to 600 people are waiting to be able to leave from Berbérati, Dekoa, Yaloké and Carnot. Many of them belong to the nomadic Muslim population group of the Fulani. The government agencies will not allow aid agencies or the UN to help them to depart, forcing the people to stay where they are. The humanitarian conditions in the camps are disastrous. Currently, there is no hope that the Muslims will be able to return to their hometowns soon. "It is cynical and inhumane to prevent an exodus by force," said Delius. "The Muslims remaining in the country must not become a fig leaf for a policy that failed to effectively protect the minority." On December 19, 2014, a UN commission of inquiry had published a report according to which the Muslims had become victims of ethnic cleansing in the Central African Republic in 2014.