Central African Republic: Ethnic Cleansing in Africa

The sectarian violence between Christian and Muslim militias and civilian mobs that has plagued Central African Republic for the past several months has tipped into a full-fledged campaign of ethnic cleansing of Muslims from the capital Bangui and the southern part of the country. Efforts to stem the mayhem have so far failed, and the country is on the brink of a de facto partition as Muslims flee toward the country’s northern borders. With 2.2 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, donor countries must act quickly to finance the $274 million in emergency aid the United Nations says is urgently needed.

Inside the republic, 600,000 people have left their homes, and, by the end of the year, the United Nations estimates, more than 360,000 people will have fled to impoverished neighboring countries that cannot provide for them. The country’s infrastructure is in tatters, militias and mobs continue to hunt down fleeing civilians, and crops have gone unplanted. The United Nations warns that, at this rate, more children will die in Central African Republic for want of food than from machetes or bullets.

The French now have 2,000 troops in the country working alongside some 5,000 African Union-led peacekeepers. But sectarian tensions have sowed division even among the peacekeepers, with Chadian soldiers charged with siding with the country’s Muslims. The more than 800 Chadian soldiers in the peacekeeping mission left by April 13 after they were accused by the United Nations of firing on civilians at a market, a charge they deny.

The United Nations Security Council has acted wisely to authorize a major new peacekeeping force of 10,000 soldiers and 1,800 police officers to Central African Republic. But there is a real risk the new mission, not scheduled to assume authority until Sept. 15, will arrive too late to prevent the country’s partition into separate Christian and Muslim territories, not to mention the utter destruction of the country and the deaths of millions of people.

It is imperative that everything be done to move this date forward. The United States, Europe and Africa must increase their support for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. Unless the violence can be stopped and healing begin, it will be largely impossible to hold elections scheduled to take place in February, a first step toward a lasting, political solution. Strong, immediate intervention is urgently required to prevent the sectarian conflict in Central African Republic from collapsing into outright civil war.