The fast deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in CAR demands prompt salvaging.

It has been an unforgettable year for people of the Central African Republic, CAR, since the March 24, 2013 overthrow of President François Bozizé by Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia and his Séléka coalition of rebel forces. The demise of Bozizé followed a brief insurgency that began in late 2012.

With François Bozizé edged out of power, all hope of a quick return to normalcy has waned over the past eight months, given the atrocities Séléka has visited on the hapless people. The worsening humanitarian and security situation prompted the announcement on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 by the French government that it is sending an additional 1,000 troops to intervene alongside the African-led MISCA peacekeeping force being deployed in the country. Moreover, there have been warnings of genocide in the making if nothing is urgently done to stem the further collapse of the country.  

Collapsed State Authority

The authorities in the capital, Bangui, hardly control anything in the country – not even in the city. Though disbanded, Séléka fighters, just like other groups of armed bands, have become a law unto themselves. The near absence of security forces means the State can no longer issue and enforce its own orders. For all intents and purposes, CAR has collapsed as a State – with the central authority unable to exercise control over the whole nation.

Heightened Insecurity

In the wake of the overthrow of President Bozizé, soldiers of the former national army, FACA, fled with their weapons. Moreover, the presence of disbanded, but not disarmed Séléka fighters – with many believed to be mercenaries from some neighbouring countries – has only worsened an already vexatious situation. Judges in the country recently embarked on a month-long industrial action to protest the killing on November 16, 2013, of a senior judge and his orderly in Bangui by unknown gunmen. For his part, President Djotodia concedes he has little or no control of the former rebels.

The huge amount of loose arms in circulation, the growing number of armed people - the ‘anti-balaka’ self-defence units formed in the north to defend Christian communities against sectarian attacks, François Bozizé loyalist fighters, rampaging Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA combatants, former Séléka fighters, other armed gangs, etc - means that the country is now controlled by local war lords.   

Disastrous Humanitarian Situation

Humanitarian groups last week said the situation was worsening daily, with violence in some areas reaching unprecedented levels. An estimated 400,000 people have been displaced by violence, with ‘Doctors Without Borders’ warning that its workers cannot reach all the people who fled their homes and are now living in dire conditions in bushes. Amnesty International described a grim situation of women being raped, children killed or recruited as soldiers, and the growing number of killings in remote areas and in the capital, Bangui. 

Impending Genocide?

The Catholic Archbishop of Bangui, Dieudonné Nzapalainga and Oumar-Kobine Layama, the country's leading imam, recently travelled to the northern town of Bossangoa where 36,000 people have sought refuge in the grounds of the Catholic Mission and school. Archbishop Nzapalainga admitted after the visit that the country had "reached the worst of the worst" in every sense with “people fleeing to a Catholic mission for safety, kids abandoning their schools in their masses, hospitals without medicines, or the Christian and Moslem populations turning against one another."

Bossangoa bishop, Nestor Aziagba, and Imam Layama, both spoke of their fears of a genocide, a prospect also recently evoked by French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, senior UN officials as well as human rights activists.

Possible Regional Conflagration

The crisis in the Central African Republic risks engulfing neighbouring countries. Armed bands from there have already launched deadly forays into Cameroon’s East Region. From the look of things, other countries cannot be said to be safe. And with certain security sources suggesting that Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQMI and other militant groups might already have set up camps in the country, the spread of the conflict beyond the borders might just be a matter of time. If nothing is done – and fast – to stem the trend.