Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bangui (Fides Service)- Increasing numbers Central Africans are seeking refuge in Chad to escape a situation of serious insecurity in the north west of the Central African Republic.
According to the Red Cross in Chad recently another 1,043 people arrived in Chad bringing the total number of Central African refugees who arrived in February to over 5,000.
“Conditions of insecurity are provoked by the presence of gangs of bandits” say local Church sources. “Officially they are not politically motivated although some bandits claim they are supporters of former president Ange-Félix Patassé in exile in Togo”.
The worst episode happened at the end of January when unidentified bandits attacked the city of Paoua, 500 km north of Bangui. The army retaliated and ten bandits were killed. Since then there has been growing insecurity and political argument. The opposition and the press accuse the security forces of committing violence on civilians. “It is necessary to distinguish between the right to self-defence and attacks on helpless people” the local sources say. The minister of the interior Michel Sallé denied that the army opened fire on civilians. “The army did not shoot at the people. It was a clash between the army and bandits” he said on national radio calling on those who accuse the army to produce the evidence.
“The dispute is fed by the press which claims an ethnic element is involved. But so far this is pure speculation” the sources say.
“In Central African Republic there are 743 missionaries of different institutes and orders and so far none have been affected by the violence” the sources say. “All through the civil war which ended in 2003 various missions were attacked but the missionaries opted to stay at their posts to assist the people in difficulty”.
The Central African Republic is struggling to overcome a situation of instability since 2003 when president François Bozizé took power in at the end of a civil war to oust former President Ange-Félix Patassé. The country is one of the world’s poorest with an average annual income per head of 260 US dollars and a foreign debt of 1.3 billion dollars. The people can expect to live to about 39.5 years and more than 1 children out of every 10 (11.5 per cent) dies before the age of five. Less than half (48.5 percent) of the adults can read and write. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 2/3/2006 righe 36 parole 451)
