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Central Southern AfricaHumanitarian aid

Central African Republic: securing, an emergency felt by all

CareCentral AfricaAidHuman@ECHO13
(Credit: European Humanitarian Aid Office)

(BRUSSELS2) All the participants agree that the Central African problem today is above all a " security issue ". And as long as the country is not secure, it will not be possible to carry out other development, humanitarian, etc. actions there.

Have more peacekeeping forces

The Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Kristalina Georgieva, entrusted it to B2 a few days ago. " It is crucial for the population, for humanitarian aid to have security. More peacekeeping forces are needed to allow full access for humanitarian organizations to all towns and villages. » Until this (security) issue is resolved, humanitarian action will be difficult, she said, adding: "We have no excuse, we no longer have any excuse today to leave behind a population that has been forgotten for too long, first by its own government and also by the international community. ».

A level 3 crisis - the highest level

At the UN, we share this point of view. " The Central African Republic must be placed at the top of the list of priorities. This country has languished at the bottom of this list for too long for our backers. said the Director of Operations of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging. The crisis in the Central African Republic is classified as level 3 by the humanitarian community, the highest level. Only two other countries are at this level currently: Syria and the Philippines. According to the UN, more than 2,6 million people need humanitarian assistance in the country, where more than 880.000 people are displaced, including more than 510.000 in the capital Bangui. But the worst could come...

All possible elements of genocide

« From a humanitarian point of view, this is a huge tragedy “, confesses John Ging who says to himself thus” very concerned by the possibility that this conflict will turn into an inter-ethnic, inter-religious conflict. " The crisis has all the elements that we have seen elsewhere in places like Rwanda and Bosnia. The elements are there for a genocide. There is no doubt ", he added. " We cannot allow that to happen in this case. This confirms the need for large-scale international involvement beyond the humanitarian »

Comments : Moreover, it is rare to see most actors in a crisis – politicians, diplomats, humanitarians – share the same observation. This whatever the geopolitical positioning: from north to south, from west to east of the world chessboard. It is enough to remember the divisions on the intervention in Libya or, again, recently on the delivery of arms or the intervention in Syria. This gives Europeans more than a legitimacy to be present on the spot. The deployment of the military operation must not get bogged down in procedural considerations. Apparently everyone is aware of this. And instructions were given to everyone to speed up the pace...

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Note: the humanitarian actors meet around Valérie Amos (OCHA), Kristalina Georgieva (European Commission) and Pascal Canfin (French Minister for Development) on Monday morning. Objective: to define a consensus between humanitarians on what is necessary to do on the spot and to mobilize, again, and again.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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