Central African Republic: Accidents caused by explosive devices weaken humanitarian intervention

ROME – According to the latest report from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in the first six weeks of 2023 there were fourteen incidents caused by explosive devices in the western part of the Central African Republic. Explosions that caused seven deaths, five wounded, and the interruption of humanitarian assistance. In 2022, again according to the estimates of the United Nations Mine Action Service, there were 53 incidents with explosive devices, almost all concentrated in the west of the country. The toll is twelve dead and 46 wounded. On January 21 of this year, a new explosion, caused by an armed attack near the Beloko customs office, led to the closure of the border with Cameroon until January 27, with serious repercussions on the entry of humanitarian aid into the country . It is worth remembering that the Central African Republic boasts huge natural resources – a wealth which, as happens in many potentially very rich African countries, turns into a real “curse” – and has been grappling, since 2013, with a serious political-military situation which has left no escape from reprisals and human rights violations despite a presence of the “blue helmets” of the United Nations.

The humanitarian crisis. A large part of the population continues to face a serious humanitarian crisis, particularly in inland areas, where ethnic clashes and generalized insecurity are forcing many people to move. More than one in five Central Africans are displaced within the country or in neighboring countries. Access to basic services such as health and education, as well as livelihoods, including agriculture, continues to be severely limited. An estimated 3.4 million people will be in need of humanitarian protection in 2023: a 10 percent increase on 2022.

Humanitarian needs. The sectors with the greatest requests for intervention are those concerning drinking water, sanitation, food safety and protection. Furthermore, stress within families due to food insecurity has led to a significant increase in gender-based violence, affecting thousands of women and girls.

The political context. Almost ten years after the coup that threw the country into chaos and led to the dissolution of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA), the military has re-established its presence in all major urban centres. However, the benefits of this redeployment risk being undermined by the army’s opaque recruitment practices, multiple chains of command, lack of training and financial mismanagement, according to the analysis of the Crisis Group.

The question of the army. In 2017, after a turbulent transition, the Central African Republic adopted a National Defense Plan with the support of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MINUSCA). FACAs were to be restructured into a regular army and soldiers assigned to permanent bases with their families. The Plan also envisaged an increase in the number of troops to 9,800, in line with the strategic priorities of defending the country’s territorial integrity and protecting the population.

The waiver of the arms embargo. In 2018, the UN Sanctions Committee relaxed the previously established arms embargo and authorized not only the delivery of weapons from Moscow, but also the deployment of Russian instructors to train FACAs and accompany them to the hinterland territories.

The turning point of 2020. The situation changed dramatically in December 2020, when one of the main rebel groups, the Union of Patriots for Change, led by François Bozizé, threatened to seize the capital, Bangui, as it judged the presidential and legislative elections as illegitimate. FACA, together with Russian and Rwandan allied forces sent at the request of President Faustin Archange Touadéra, launched a counter-offensive that between January and March 2021 reduced the control of armed groups over the hinterland. Some defeated rebels chose exile in Chad, together with Bozizé, others in neighboring Sudan. Others turned to banditry. While the counter-offensive helped redeploy troops to the country’s major urban centers, it did so at a great cost in lives. The Central African authorities have yet to take adequate measures to sanction those responsible for the serious human rights violations recorded. These operations have also taken the government away from the initial objectives of the National Defense Plan.

The training of soldiers. New FACA recruits are not subject to any form of scrutiny. In several cases, according to sources close to the armed groups interviewed by Crisis Group, the former rebels who adhere to the Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration program created by the February 2019 peace agreement and facilitated by MINUSCA, are directly integrated into FACA. This phenomenon is evident in the center of the country, where divisions within one of the main rebel groups, the Union of Patriots for Change, have led to the defection of some 400 fighters who have passed to FACA without any training.

The quality of training. According to information obtained from Crisis Group, recruits receive three to five weeks of military training from Russian forces. The training was initially entrusted to the European mission EUTM and included six months of military exercises, as well as courses on respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. But the European Union suspended it in December 2021 following interference by Russian private security group Wagner in the command of FACA. The training provided by Russian instructors since 2018 initially lasted three months but was reduced in 2021 to a few weeks to expedite deployments.