U.S. Committee for Refugees Mid-Year Country Report 2001 - Central African Republic

Background

The Central African Republic suffered numerous mutinies by its military in the mid-1990s against the country's democratically elected government. Rounds of violence displaced tens of thousands of people in the country's capital, Bangui. UN peacekeeping troops helped restore order and remained in the country until 2000. The country avoided significant violence or new population displacement during 1998-2000 despite continued political tensions.

At the beginning of 2001, the Central Africa Republic was producing relatively few refugees or internally displaced persons. The country hosted about 55,000 refugees from neighboring countries.

Political/Military/Human Rights Developments through September

General Andre Kolingba, a former president of the country, launched a surprise coup attempt against democratically elected President Ange-Felix Patasse in May. Pro-government forces defeated the coup attempt and retaliated against Kolingba's Yakoma ethnic group. The capital suffered heavy damage and hundreds of deaths in ten days of fighting. Atrocities and other human rights abuses continued in July before diminishing in August and September. Armed crime in the capital and on highways increased after the coup attempt because of the proliferation of weapons.

A report by the UN Secretary General characterized the coup attempt as "wholly unexpected" despite severe political and economic tensions preceding the coup effort. Soldiers involved in the coup attempt fled to neighboring Congo-Kinshasa, where they posed a "legitimate concern" to security in the region, the UN Secretary General warned in September. The same UN report noted "sharp political tensions, further economic decline, simmering social tension, and a troubling lack of security" in the aftermath of the violence.

New Uprooted Populations through September

An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 residents of Bangui fled their homes during the May coup attempt and subsequent retaliations. More than half of the displaced population were children under the age of 15, according to government figures. Most uprooted people fled to the outskirts of the capital, where they sought shelter in local homes and the surrounding forest. Some 20,000 to 25,000 people fled across the Oubangui River into northwest Congo-Kinshasa, including hundreds of armed participants in the coup attempt. About 1,000 refugees fled to Congo-Brazzaville.

Authorities of the Central African Republic officially closed their border with Congo-Kinshasa and deployed military patrols along the Oubangui River in an effort to prevent traffic across the border. As a result, many citizens of Central African Republic were unable to cross the river into Congo-Kinshasa to bring food to relatives who had fled Bangui's violence.

By mid-July, between 10,000 and 40,000 people had returned to their homes even though smaller numbers of residents continued to flee anew because of continued atrocities against the Yakoma population. Most of those who remained uprooted during August-September were believed to be Yakoma who feared retribution if they returned home.

Ten urban refugees from other countries were killed during the violence in Bangui, causing other urban refugees from Congo-Kinshasa to request removal from Bangui to a refugee camp north of the capital. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) moved hundreds of the refugees to Molange camp, which opened in January 2001 to accommodate some 1,600 recently-arrived refugees from Congo-Kinshasa.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees completed the repatriation of refugees from Central African Republic to Chad in February. Many of the Chadian refugees had lived in Central African Republic for up to 15 years.

Humanitarian Conditions through September

Humanitarian conditions were difficult in many areas of Bangui after the violence. Additional damage caused by heavy rains and flooding aggravated the situation. The coup attempt temporarily blocked Bangui's main highway, causing a food shortage. Many displaced families were exposed to heavy rains before they could find shelter. Residents of nearby towns and neighborhoods struggled to supply food, drinking water, and medicines to the displaced persons in their midst. Aid workers expressed concern that crowded conditions might provoke outbreaks of cholera, malaria, or meningitis. Families that returned home found their houses "looted, burned, or destroyed," according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The 20,000 to 25,000 Bangui residents who fled to Congo-Kinshasa to live as refugees congregated in the Congolese town of Zongo – about a mile from Bangui – where they faced "extremely difficult conditions," UNHCR reported. Some 15,000 refugees continued to live in Zongo in September, some 10,000 others lived in scattered Congolese villages along the border between the two countries, and 3,000 refugees moved deeper into Congo-Kinshasa, away from the border. UNHCR airlifted 20 tons of plastic sheeting, blankets, and cooking supplies to the refugees in early August. Relief officials expressed concern about armed elements among the refugee population and searched for ways to transfer the refugees to safer locations farther from the border.

The short but intense violence in Central African Republic "wiped out" economic gains of the past five years, according to the country's prime minister. The coup attempt and large-scale population upheaval "will without a doubt have catastrophic consequences for an already fragile economy," the UN Secretary General stated in July. "There is no question that it is poverty which ... is the breeding ground for the instability experienced by the Central African Republic. ... "

The government of the Central African Republic requested $95 million in aid for emergency relief, development and rehabilitation projects, and reintegration of uprooted people. International donor countries responded with only meager funding as of September. The UN Secretary General reported that government authorities in Central African Republic were "utterly incapable" of alleviating their country's poverty and urged major nations to provide economic experts and government administration experts to help manage the country's affairs.