Crisis in Central African Republic far from over, agency warns
Retrospective Mortality Study Reveals Massive Levels of Death Due to Violence Against Muslims During Peak of Conflict in Central African Republic
With Thousands Still Encircled in Enclaves, Chad Border Closed, and Massive Gaps in Aid for Central African Refugees, Crisis in Central African Republic Is Far from Over
A retrospective mortality study conducted by the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) among Central African refugees in Sido, Chad, reveals extreme levels of death during a violent crackdown against the Central African Republic’s (CAR) Muslim minority.
The study found that one in three families surveyed had lost at least one family member between November 2013 and April 2014. The survey documented that 2,208 people died while still in CAR, of which 95 percent died from gunshot, machete, grenade, or other blast wounds.
Between December 2013 and January 2014, several hundred thousand people fled abuse and violence in CAR, seeking refuge in Chad and Cameroon, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Epicentre, MSF’s epidemiological research centre, conducted interviews with 3,449 refugee families in Sido to understand the levels of violence during the period of November 2013 to April 2014.
The survey revealed that 2,599 members of those families – which were initially made up of 32,768 people – died. Thirty-three percent of the families surveyed had lost at least one member. Twenty-eight percent had lost at least two. More than half (57%) of the families interviewed in Sido were originally from Bangui, the place of departure of most of the refugee convoys.
“The shocking levels of violence documented in our study should not leave the impression that the worst is over,” said Dr. Mego Terzian, president of MSF. “MSF teams continue to work inside enclaves in the Central African Republic where thousands of people remain trapped, protected by international forces, but with no chance to escape.”
Nearly 85 percent of those who died in CAR before any attempt to flee were men (1,863). However, the violence did not spare women, children or the elderly. Two hundred and nine children under 15 and 227 people over the age of 60 died because of violence.
The survey data and the statements gathered by MSF teams in CAR, Chad, and Cameroon highlight the breadth of the violence that the populations experienced both in the CAR and as they fled the country. Three hundred and twenty two people died during the transfer to Chad. Seventy-eight percent of these deaths are attributable to violence.
Today, nearly the entire Muslim population in the western half of the CAR has left in just a few months. Several enclaves under the protection of armed international forces in Bangui, Carnot,Boda, and Berberati still shelter a few thousand Muslims, although their living conditions are very precarious and they have few prospects. Now confined in ghettos, this portion of the Central African population still faces daily threats.
On July 7, an attack and fighting around a Bambari church housing displaced people resulted in five deaths and many wounded. Most people believe it is too dangerous to go to the hospital or move around town. While the hospital remains functional, there is little access to it, and MSF has referred 14 emergency cases by aircraft and ambulances to hospitals in Bangui and Bria.
The situation around Boguila, in the northwest, remains volatile and lawless. In the past few weeks, local communities have been violently targeted by groups of armed bandits entering the area, with more than 10,000 people now displaced.
The Chadian government’s decision, in May, to close its border and the inadequate humanitarian aid deployed in Cameroon impede Central Africans from seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. In June, MSF teams recorded more than 1,700 new arrivals in Sido. They included people arriving from CAR or from other transit camps in Chad, who had come to join the family members from whom they had been separated. Some had to pay to cross or walk for hours to find more “permeable” crossing points. Others came under fire.
On June 13, four people were killed as they tried to cross the river, heading for Sido. On July 3, 100 people, victims of an attack on their village in the CAR, were not allowed to cross into Sido. At least five of them were wounded by gunfire during the attack, including a woman and three children. They had to walk for 24 hours before reaching Bethel, a Chadian border town, where MSF treated them and transported them to the Goré hospital, after negotiating with the authorities, who finally approved the transfer.
After several months of displacement, the Central Africans who reach Cameroon arrive exhausted and traumatised. Their health status is alarming, particularly in terms of nutrition, with nearly half of the children suffering from malnutrition.
“There are still massive deficits in the distribution of aid to the hundreds of thousands who managed to escape the violence and reach Chad or Cameroon,” said Dr. Terzian. “The bare minimum that can be done for this population that has suffered incredible violence, lost family members, and been uprooted from their homes, is to provide them with humanitarian assistance.”
MSF has been working in CAR since 1997. More than 2,300 people work with MSF in medical-surgical projects located in more than 15 Central African towns. MSF also works in the Central African refugee camps in southern Chad and eastern Cameroon.
###
REPORT SUMMARY
SUITCASE OR COFFIN – Central African Republic
As the crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues, with violence from all sides still injuring, killing and displacing thousands from their homes a new report from MSF, entitled “Suitcase or Coffin” provides stark statistics on the extreme levels of violence and high death tolls experienced by the Muslim population at the height of the CAR crisis.
This report is based upon a retrospective mortality study among Central African refugees in Sido, Chad. While the report provides data on past levels of violence, it also puts the spotlight on the fate of those who remain trapped in enclaves within CAR today, and the dire situation facing refugees in Chad and Cameroon.
Shocking levels of violence with high death toll statistics
· One in three families surveyed had lost one family member between November 2013 and April 2014
· More than one in four (28%) had lost at least two members of their family.
· Nearly 8% (2,599 people) of the 32,768 people who initially composed the 3,449 families questioned had died. (8% of family members had died).
· 2,208 of those people had died while they were in CAR, 95% of them from violence related injuries, by gunshot, machete, grenade, or other blast wounds.
Main victims of violence were men, but women, children, elderly not spared.
· Nearly 8% of the victims were men (1,863) and, specifically, those between 33 and 44 years of age.
· However, this violence did not spare women, children or the elderly: 209 children under 15 years and 227 people aged +60 years died because of violence.
Perilous journeys to safety – and deaths during the escape journey in neighbouring countries
· People were crammed into trucks, 200-300 people, to escape – subject to violent attacks on their journey.
· 322 people died during their transfer to Chad. 78% of these deaths are attributable to violence.
INSIDE CAR - Crisis not over. People trapped in enclaves, violence, and lawlessness continue.
· Over just a few months, almost the entire Muslim population in the western half of the CAR fled. Today, the thousands of remaining Muslims are effectively trapped in enclaves
· These enclaves are under the protection of armed international forces in Bangui, Carnot, Boda, and Berberati. Leaving enclaves brings serious risk of attack – they are essentially protected prisons.
· On July 7, an attack and fighting around a Bambari church housing displaced people resulted in five deaths and many wounded. Most people believe it is too dangerous to go to the hospital or move around town. While the hospital remains functional, there is little access to it, and MSF has referred 14 emergency cases by aircraft and ambulances to hospitals in Bangui and Bria.
· The situation around Boguila, in the northwest, remains volatile and lawless. In the past few weeks, local communities have been violently targeted by groups of armed bandits entering the area, with more than 10,000 people now displaced.
CAMEROON – 100 new arrivals/day, traumatised and in deteriorated health
· 100 people arrive daily in Cameroon. The people MSF teams see coming in the last months is that now they arrive in severely deteriorated health conditions – many having walked between 1 to 4 months.
· Critical nutrition situation – Almost half of the children (1,320 out of 3,300) in Gado and Gbiti camps, where MSF teams work, are malnourished, with 198 being severely malnourished. In MSF’s therapeutic feeding centres, 10-15% of the malnourished children are older than 5 years, which is a sign that the situation is critical, as this age group is normally less vulnerable/more resilient than then under fives.
· Traumatised, with families torn apart, many search through neighbouring camps to find family members. This makes it difficult to provide proper sustained care to malnourished children, who often relapse because they remain on the move.
CHAD
· The Chadian government’s decision, in May, to close its border puts people seeking refuge at risk. Some of the 1,700 new arrivals in Sido in June had to pay to cross the border, or walk for hours to find more “permeable” crossing points. Others came under fire/attack.
DEFICITS IN AID PROVISION FOR THOSE WHO MANAGED TO ESCAPE
· There are still massive deficits in the distribution of aid to the hundreds of thousands who managed to escape the violence and reach Chad or Cameroon
MSF has been working in CAR since 1997. More than 2,300 people work with MSF in medical-surgical projects located in more than 15 Central African towns. MSF also works in the Central African refugee camps in southern Chad and eastern Cameroon.
blog comments powered by Disqus
