Central African Republic (CAR) - Country of Concern: latest update 31 December 2014
Updated 21 January 2015
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-african-republic-country-of-concern/central-african-republic-car-country-of-concern-latest-update-31-december-2014
Any incidents or events taking place after 31 December 2014 will be covered in future reports.
0.1 Latest Update: 31 December 2014
The grave security and humanitarian situation continues to have a severe impact upon the civilian population and their human rights in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Abuses include sexual violence against women and children, extrajudicial killings, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The increase in the number of interfaith reprisal attacks, as noted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is a great concern, and has resulted in large-scale migration of Muslim communities to neighbouring countries and to the north of CAR. It has had a huge impact on basic livelihoods, the wider economy and its ability to recover.
It is estimated that more than 2.5million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The latest available figures from OCHA indicate that there are 430,000 internally displaced persons and 423,757 CAR refugees living in neighbouring countries.
Food insecurity continues to be a huge concern. The humanitarian situation is dire, with violence and criminal banditry hampering the humanitarian operations of charities and organisations in CAR.
The UK condemned the attack against a convoy from the UN peacekeeping operation MINUSCA in October, and expressed our concern at the spike in violence and ongoing attacks against civilians in Bangui.
On 6 November, a delegation of the Central African interim government led by the Minister of Defence, Mr. Aristide Sokambi, and accompanied by members of the international community, conducted a three-day mission to Kaga Bandoro, Bria and Bambari. They met leaders of the ex-Seleka coalition in order to convey the interim President’s invitation to the upcoming national dialogue process in Bangui in January 2015.
The UK attended the International Contact Group on CAR’s (ICG-CAR) 6th meeting on 11 November 2014, which took place in Bangui. Participants noted that, despite some improvements, the security situation remained fragile. The ICG-CAR strongly condemned the spike in violence that had occurred in Bangui in October; encouraged MINUSCA to take, within its mandate, all necessary measures to ensure the effective protection of the civilian population and the restoration of lasting security; and encouraged regional and international financial institutions to pursue their support for the functioning and stability of CAR, in particular by ensuring that 2015 financial needs are covered.
In November, the African Union deployed a team of experts to CAR to support victims of sexual violence. This was co-financed by the UK and intended to facilitate the rehabilitation of three health facilities, provide protection and assistance to 1,000 victims of sexual violence, and establish a national network of government and community stakeholders in the prevention and response to sexual violence.
The UK welcomed the extension of the mandate for the EU security mission to CAR (EUFOR CAR) from 15 December 2014 to 15 March 2015. EUFOR CAR, MINUSCA and France’s Sangaris troops are all present in CAR and play an important role in establishing security.
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