The United Nations has warned of a possible eruption of genocide in the Central African Republic, and has called for more troops and police to beef up the UN peacekeeping mission in the conflict-dogged country.
According to the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien, about 180,000 people have been forced to flee their homes this year, bringing the total number of displaced in the CAR to well over half a million .
“The early warning signs of genocide are there,” O’Brien told a UN meeting following his recent trip to the CAR and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We must act now, not pare down the UN’s effort, and pray we don’t live to regret it.”
He said it was the right time to authorize an increase in troops deployed under the MINUSCA peacekeeping force, saying that would enable the mission “deliver on its critical protection mandate”.
The C.A.R. war erupted in 2013 between Christian and Muslim armed groups.
This came following President Francois Bozize ouster by a coalition of Muslim-majority rebel groups called the Seleka.
They, in turn, were overthrown by a military intervention led by former colonial ruler, France. Those events sparked some of the bloodiest sectarian violence in the country’s history as mainly Christian armed groups sought revenge.
O’Brien said he was horrified by a visit he made to a Catholic church in the southern town of Bangassou where 2,000 Muslims took refuge three months ago, surrounded by Anti-balaka Christian fighters who are threatening to kill them.
The UN has received only 24 percent of the $497m it has requested in a humanitarian appeal for the CAR.
