CAR: U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos says more peacekeepers needed in the Central African Republic to stop "unspeakable violence"

Record ID: 349836

  • Title: CAR: U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos says more peacekeepers needed in the Central African Republic to stop "unspeakable violence"
  • Date: 21st February 2014
  • Summary: BOSSANGOA, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (FEBRUARY 20, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF UNITED NATIONS UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS, VALERIE AMOS, AND THE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSAIRE VISITING A CAMP FOR DISPLACED CHRISTIANS AT BOASSANGOA VARIOUS OF THE CAMPS, WOMEN COOKING MEALS AMOS SPEAKING WITH A DISPLACED CHRISTIAN WOMAN VARIOUS OF THE VISIT IN THE CAMPS FOR DIS
  • Embargoed: 8th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Central African Republic
  • Country: Central African Republic
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA9U5R67DDP8KI74ATA5KEQ4OI0
  • Story Text: United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos on Thursday (February 20) said more peacekeepers were needed in the Central African Republic, to stop the "unspeakable" violence going on there.
    A quarter of the population has been displaced by fighting in CAR, which erupted after the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel group seized power in March last year in the majority Christian country.
    After visiting displacement camps in Bossangoa, in the east of the country, on the third day of her visit to the crisis-torn country, Amos returned to the capital Bangui and held a news conference, where said it was difficult to see the fear people had lived under.
    "Innocent civilians of all communities have witnessed and borne the brunt of unspeakable violence. People are so afraid that they sleep in the bush at night, are in displacement sites or have been forced to flee their country," she said.
    The camps in Bossangoa are for the most part divided between Christians and Muslims, but the reasons people have come are the same.
    They make up some of the more than 1 million people displaced by fighting in Central African Republic.
    When Seleka leader Michel Djotodia gave up power last month, Christian militias stepped up their attacks on Muslims.
    At least 2,000 people have been killed since December in the country, in what a U.N. official described as a wave of "ethnic-religious cleansing".
    Amos said more needed to be done to protect civilians in CAR.
    "We also know, given the breakdown of the security insitutitions across the country, that despite the good job that the MISCA and SANGARIS forces are doing, that there are not enough troops on the ground," she said.
    "As well as a discussion about whether or not the MISCA mission should become a UN peacekeeping mission in the longer term," she later added.
    France has 1,600 troops in its former colony to help stem the violence, and made a recent pledge to add 400 more.
    The country had hoped to quickly hand sole responsibility for security to the African Union peacekeeping force MISCA, which has deployed nearly 6,000 troops to CAR, including soldiers from Rwanda, Burundi, Chad and Cameroon.
    Chad President Idriss Deby earlier this week called for the creation of a U.N. peacekeeping mission, warning the country risked partition if there were no talks with the mainly Muslim Seleka force, who have retreated to their northern rear bases.
    The European Union has pledged to send 500 troops to CAR, and U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon is due to report shortly on the possibility of a U.N. mission.
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