U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1998 - Central African Republic

  Central African Republic hosted an estimated 38,000 or more refugees at the end of 1997, including 32,000 from Sudan, 4,000 from Chad, about 1,000 from Rwanda, and 1,000 from other countries. Conflict in the neighboring countries of Congo/Zaire and Congo-Brazzaville during 1997 pushed thousands of asylum seekers into Central African Republic. During 1997, tens of thousands of Central Africans temporarily fled the capital, Bangui, because of armed conflict related to a persistent mutiny by members of the Central African military. By year's end, however, few Central Africans remained internally displaced. Refugees from Sudan Large numbers of refugees entered Central African Republic from Sudan in the early 1990s, fleeing full-scale civil war. Few have repatriated. During 1997, more than 1,000 Sudanese arrived in Central African Republic, UNHCR reported. Some had been refugees in neighboring Congo/Zaire, but fled to Central African Republic to escape Congo/Zaire's civil war. Nearly all of the more than 32,000 registered Sudanese refugees lived in a camp at Mboki, in the isolated southeast corner of the country, near the borders of Sudan and Congo/Zaire. Most refugees at Mboki, of the Zande ethnic group, shared linguistic ties with local residents. About 500 Sudanese refugees, primarily ethnic Dinka, lived in a small refugee settlement near Kaga Bandoro, in the north-central portion of the country, far from the Sudanese border. During 1997, no Sudanese refugees were known to have repatriated from Central African Republic, UNHCR reported. Refugees from Chad Large numbers of Chadians fled to Central African Republic in the early 1990s to escape abuses by government and rebel troops in their country. Their number reached about 18,000 in 1994. Some 10,000 Chadians repatriated from Central African Republic in 1995, followed by smaller numbers in succeeding years. About three-quarters of the 4,000 registered Chadian refugees in Central African Republic at the end of 1997 lived in a camp at Boubou, near the northwestern town of Bossangoa. No Chadian refugees were known to have arrived in Central African Republic during 1997, UNHCR reported. During the year, about 2,000 Chadian refugees repatriated from Central African Republic, including about 1,400 who had lived at Boubou, UNHCR said. Flight from Congo/Zaire During the first half of 1997, conflict in neighboring Zaire (later renamed Democratic Republic of Congo) pushed thousands of people into Central African Republic. These included Congolese/Zairians, Rwandans, and Burundians. Although some of those seeking asylum appeared to have valid refugee claims, others may have been ineligible for refugee protection. The latter group included Rwandans who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. As the Mobutu regime in Congo/Zaire crumbled in May 1997, thousands of Congolese/Zairians entered Central African Republic. Various reports placed their number at 4,000 to 15,000. Some reports indicated that thousands of Mobutu's defeated troops entered Central African Republic. Congolese/Zairians crossed the Oubangui River from the Gbadolite area, Mobutu's ancestral region, arriving in the Central African towns of Mobaye and Satema. Others entered farther east, at Kemba, while smaller numbers reportedly crossed from Zongo to Bangui, farther west. "[M]any thousands of ex-Zairians flooded into Central African Republic," UNHCR reported. The agency registered only 350 Congolese/Zairian asylum seekers during the year, however. Those registered were transferred to a site near Bouca, about 300 km north of Bangui. The majority of Congolese/Zairians reportedly did not request assistance and intended to return to Congo/Zaire when the situation there stabilized. UNHCR reported that it was aware of 250 Congolese/Zairians who repatriated later in the year. It was unclear how many unregistered Congolese/Zairians remained in Central African Republic at year's end, although some reports continued to cite estimates at high as 9,000. More than 1,500 Rwandans entered Central African Republic from Congo/Zaire during 1997, UNHCR reported. Smaller numbers of Burundians also entered. In August, UNHCR began to screen the Rwandans to determine who among them may have been ineligible for refugee protection. "Most of these people are male and ex-military," a UNHCR spokesperson was quoted in a press report. "If these people are found to be former soldiers or militiamen, then they will lose their refugee status." UNHCR reported difficulties in the screening process. "Protection officers say interviews have become difficult because leaders of the refugees have coached them to tell a uniform story on why they fled Rwanda and to deny any involvement in the 1994 genocide," a UNHCR report noted. About 800 Rwandans were eventually granted refugee status in Central African Republic, UNHCR said. Central African authorities reportedly demanded that the remainder be transferred to other countries. UNHCR reported that about 30 Rwandans repatriated from Central African Republic by year's end. Flight from Congo-Brazzaville Smaller numbers of refugees and asylum seekers entered Central African Republic from neighboring Republic of Congo (hereafter referred to as Congo-Brazzaville) in 1997, fleeing fighting in the north of that country. UNHCR reported that it registered about 200 new Congolese asylum seekers during 1997 and that it assisted about 150 to repatriate late in the year. Some of those who repatriated did so while the war still raged, however. In one instance, about 50 Congolese flew to the Congolese city of Pointe-Noire, which subsequently fell to Angolan forces who intervened in Congo-Brazzaville's civil war. Small groups of Rwandans in Congo Brazzaville also reportedly moved toward Central African Republic, although it was unclear how many may have entered. Internal Displacement Mutinies by elements of the Central African military in Bangui during 1996 killed scores of civilians and produced short-term displacement in and near Bangui. Renewed violence erupted in January and June 1997. Fighting in June displaced tens of thousands of Bangui residents. By year's end, however, few Central Africans remained internally displaced, and relative calm had returned to Bangui. In January 1997, mutinous elements of Central African Republic's military again clashed with French troops stationed in the country. Later in the month, the mutineers signed an accord officially ending their uprising. The accord provided amnesty for the mutineers, their reintegration into the military, establishment of a unity government, and deployment of an African military force to replace French troops. The Inter-African Mission To Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Agreements (MISAB) began to deploy in Bangui in February. MISAB, comprised of nearly 800 troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, and Togo, conducted joint patrols with loyalist troops and former mutineers. In late June, however, fighting broke out between MISAB and the former mutineers, primarily in the southern sections of Bangui, where many former mutineers' family members and other supporters lived. During the fighting, MISAB troops from Chad "committed serious rights abusesŠincluding the killing of many civilians and looting of residences," the U.S. Department of State reported. Shelling prompted tens of thousands of Bangui residents to flee to villages southwest of the capital. By the time a truce took effect on June 28, an estimated 70,000 persons were displaced, according to some accounts. Some 50,000 or more persons were displaced to Bimon and Samba, both within 30 km of the capital, while 20,000 people were displaced elsewhere, WFP reported. A formal cease-fire between MISAB and the mutineers ended hostilities on July 3. One week later, a UN mission reported that not more than 10,000 people remained displaced. In August, the UN Security Council formally endorsed MISAB's activities, and France announced that it would withdraw its forces from the country. In November, the Security Council extended for three months its endorsement of MISAB.