Civilians need urgent protection and assistance in the Central African Republic
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Bangui/Geneva, 21 November 2018 – The humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate, marked by growing forced displacement, insecurity and access constraints for civilians and humanitarian workers. In the past 3 weeks alone, over 50,000 people have been affected in Batangafo town, in the Ouham prefecture, and in Alindao town, in the Basse Kotto prefecture, where two main sites for internally displaced persons have been set ablaze.
“The world cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening in the CAR. We are back to square one!” said the Humanitarian Coordinator in CAR, Ms. Najat Rochdi. “These despicable attacks are taking a huge toll on the lives of innocent men, women, boys and girls. They have lost everything, including hope. As humanitarians, we continue to scale up emergency response assistance, but in these two towns we have to do it from scratch as our achievements have been lost so abruptly.”
Ms. Rochdi strongly condemns the spike in attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and calls on all parties to abide by their obligations under human rights law and international humanitarian law. Civilians, in particular women and children, continue to bear the brunt of the conflict and are increasingly exposed to protection risks and incidents.
Some 2.9 million people are in need of assistance and protection in the CAR. Between January and September, over 9,000 protection incidents have been reported, more than 1,000 per month on average, in areas affected by insecurity and violence. As of end October, over 338 incidents against humanitarian workers have been recorded making the CAR one of the most dangerous places on earth for humanitarian workers.
Despite the donors’ generosity, the CAR 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan requesting US$515.6 million has only received $240.6 million. Additional funding is urgently needed to scale up the emergency response, save lives and address the growing needs.