Muslims flee from Bangui – Ongoing violence impedes humanitarian aid for needy civilians

In the Central African Republic, the humanitarian situation for the civil people is growing worse, due to the ongoing violence and the lawlessness and arbitrariness of the militias. On Monday, the Africa-consultant of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Göttingen, Ulrich Delius, reported: "Many aid organizations are forced to close down their branch offices in order to protect their employees. In many regions of the country, public order has collapsed completely. There are no police or military forces, no functioning courts to enforce compliance with the law."

Last Saturday, Seleka militias killed at least 22 people in the village of Nanga Boguila in the north of the country. Among the victims are three employees of "Doctors Without Borders" and 16 leading local representatives. They had met do discuss how to continue their humanitarian work, when the organization's office was attacked by militias. The gunmen ransacked the premises and shot volunteers and members of the civilian population.

"There is an urgent need for all kinds of humanitarian aid throughout the Central African Republic," said Delius. About 2.5 of the 4.6 million residents are dependent on help from abroad. Many children suffer from malnutrition, from a lack of food, drinking water and medical care. "The situation of the 603,000 IDPs is especially alarming. There are about 180,000 civil war refugees living in the capital Bangui alone, often under inhumane conditions.

"In the long run, the Central African Republic is threatened to be split up into a predominantly Christian south and a Muslim-dominated north, due to forced evictions" warned STP-consultant Ulrich Delius. "More and more Muslims are forced to flee from the capital Bangui and from the south of the country, because the international peacekeeping forces of the African Union and from France are unable to guarantee safety." Again, 1,300 Muslims were evacuated from Bangui and escorted to the north of the country by a heavily armed convoy just this weekend, after being threatened by anti-Balaka militias.

Ulrich Delius, head of STP's Africa department, is available for further questions: Tel. 0551 49906 27 or afrika@gfbv.de.