01/22/2008

Cliquez sur ce lien pour lire ce document en français.

The Central African Republic (CAR) faces political instability and chronic poverty that demand a long-term concerted effort from the international donor community, the United Nations and international NGOs. Several positive steps have been taken in the last few months, but more can be done to assist the government in tackling the crisis in the northwest that is at the heart of massive displacement.

Background

In northwest CAR, the UN estimates that almost 200,000 people have fled their homes since 2005, with half of them seeking refuge in Chad and Cameroon. They are victims of two distinct but entwined situations: a low-intensity conflict between the government and rebel groups on the one hand and the criminal activities of marauding gangs on the other. The root cause of the rebel activity is political, while zaraguinas or coupeurs de route – as the criminal gangs are known – prey on villagers for financial gain. But these problems are entwined because zaraguinas thrive on the lawlessness accompanying the political conflict.

The government controls only pockets of the northwest provinces. Rebels and zaraguinas fight over the rest. Villagers are caught between a rock and a hard place: forced to flee their homes on the main roads to avoid clashes between rebels and government forces, they also must stay clear of zaraguinas hiding in the vast forest expanses. Refugees International met with villagers who had fled after government troops burned down their homes and later were attacked by zaraguinas. They sought refuge in larger urban centers where they had little access to food or adequate shelter.

Steps Forward: Restraint of Armed Forces and Presidential Engagement

There have been no reported massive abuses by government forces (FACA) – including the dreaded Garde Présidentielle (GP) – in the past seven months. Several independent reports in the past year have documented that government forces have burned and looted villages as a means of reprisal against rebel groups. The last such major incident was in May 2007, when the GP burned down more than 450 homes in the Chad border village of Ngaoundaye. Currently the FACA mostly remain stationed in their quarters and do not indiscriminately attack villagers. The restraint of the armed forces is a major step towards stability.

President Bozizé visited the northwest twice in the last few months – an unthinkable occurrence just a year ago. The first visit followed the accidental killing of a humanitarian worker near Ngaoundaye, where he saw firsthand the destruction that his own forces had wreaked and pledged to punish the perpetrators. The second visit was in November in the village of Bocaranga to celebrate World Food Day. There, Bozizé personally apologized for past abuses committed by government forces. These words have resonated with the local population.In a testament to the resilience of the displaced and the victims of past governmental abuses, there is growing confidence and trust being placed in the FACA and governmental institutions. This marks a shift from the situation a year ago and reflects the weariness of the population in the face of the prolonged conflict.

Steps Forward: Increased Humanitarian Assistance

The tireless efforts of the Resident Humanitarian Coordinator to raise awareness of the situation in CAR have borne fruit. In the past twelve months several NGOs have conducted assessments and opened up projects in the Northwest. For example, the Norwegian Refugee Council is targeting displaced populations near Bataganfo through an education program, illustrating the opportunity for sustainable assistance in an emergency setting. Moreover, the UN has broadened its presence in the country through the opening of a field office in Paoua, and plans additional offices. The combined presence of international NGOs and UN agencies marks a significant improvement from just a few months ago.

This presence would not have been possible without the renewed engagement of multilateral donors, most notably the European Commission and the World Bank. Last October, international donors pledged $600 million of assistance for 2008-2010. The United States should be more active in these efforts and provide more funding for assistance and development programs.

Read more about the humanitarian needs in the CAR.

Ongoing Challenges: Protecting Civilians

The displacement dynamics are both localized and complex. Along the dirt roads of the northwest, one might pass a burned, abandoned village and then a bustling, untouched one just a few kilometers further along. Other once-abandoned villages show signs of people trying to return. Most of the internally displaced seek shelter in temporary dwellings by their fields just a few kilometers away from their villages. But in the larger towns of Paoua and Bozoum, villagers have left the ‘bush’ and congregated in the thousands, assimilating with the urban population in the search for security.

This situation complicates aid delivery and creates humanitarian challenges: the overemphasis on internally displaced people over other vulnerable groups; the deliberate inflation of the numbers of the displaced; the impact of aid distribution on displacement patterns; the looting and reselling of food aid. Most NGOs respond to these challenges as they arise, but humanitarian aid is only a short-term answer in the face of the ongoing insecurity and underdevelopment that affect all civilians.

Indeed, the volatile security situation is still the most important barrier to the return of the displaced and the development of the region as a whole. Rebels live off the local population, and zaraguinas are a significant impediment to humanitarian assistance as well as a cause of displacement. In a sign of increasing desperation, the Comités d’Auto-Défense – ill-equipped armed civilian groups trying to defend their villages – are increasingly prominent. This points to the inability of national and international forces to fulfill their mandate and protect the civilian population.

Read more about increasing security and supporting political dialogue in the CAR.

Ongoing Challenges: Seeking a Political Resolution

Stability in the northwest ultimately hinges on a resolution of the conflict between the elected government and rebel groups. A national reconciliation process is underway to bring the parties together in an inclusive dialogue. Though no one thinks the dialogue will solve all disputes, it remains an important foundation for future stability and return of displaced civilians. In order to hold, it must be accompanied by the state’s assumption of its responsibility to protect its citizens. Toward that end, donors have pledged to support a major security sector reform (SSR) program. Not only are government forces under-equipped, but they also lack all sense of duty toward their fellow citizens. SSR must address these problems.

The United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in the CAR (BONUCA) has been present in the country since 2000 to support such political dialogue and monitor human rights abuses. Unfortunately, BONUCA has lost its legitimacy as a political interlocutor as well as a human rights supervisory body. Opposition parties are said to have refused the mediation of BONUCA in the national reconciliation process and senior UN staff as well as NGO workers privately question its relevance. Many civilians have not heard of it. Some changes are under way, including shuffling senior staff, but the new UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) faces an uphill battle to render the institution relevant.

The renewed attention on CAR from the international community is welcome. It is an opportunity to engage with the legitimately elected government on a series of much needed economic reforms as well as provide assistance to a population that had been neglected. CAR is now in a transitional period. The international community needs to continue its efforts to consolidate these fragile gains. It’s not difficult to imagine what the alternative might be: CAR’s history is replete with political chaos with disastrous consequences for the civilian population.

Policy Recommendations

1. The US government begin to shift the bulk of its aid budget from Food For Peace to providing NGOs with needed funds for recovery programs with returning displaced people and for the development of schools, clinics, water points and other infrastructure in areas affected by the conflict.



2. BONUCA develop a systematic human rights reporting mechanism, including issuing public reports in early 2008.



3. Donor governments demand that the CAR government stick to the schedule for security sector reform and fund it sufficiently so it can have a real impact. The US should get involved and finance infrastructure throughout the country in addition to training.