In Pictures

Gallery|Humanitarian Crises

Displaced and forgotten in Central African Republic

From village to village, people share stories of being forced to flee as armed groups attacked and burned their homes.

CAR Displaced
Villagers gather in Mann to talk to aid workers from Action Against Hunger, who are travelling north from Bocaranga – 300 miles from the capital Bangui – to locate people left homeless by the conflict in CAR. Gun attacks, looting, kidnappings and the burning of homes and crops send people fleeing to other towns and villages, which can become overwhelmed and in need of basic equipment, clean water and food. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
By Paula Dear and Samuel Hauenstein Swan
Published On 27 Jul 2016

Ouham-Pendé, Central African Republic – As the humanitarian workers drive in to each village, people assemble around their vehicles or drag plastic chairs and benches to the shade to discuss the latest events: Which places have been attacked, burned or looted by armed groups, the number killed in this place or that, where people have fled to and how many have arrived from surrounding areas in search of safety.

The emergency response team of NGO Action Against Hunger is on a mission in the Central African Republic’s northern Ouham-Pendé province – near the border with Cameroon – to reach out to those who have fled from a sectarian conflict that has left nearly one million people displaced, according to the UN. More than half have left the country, while the rest are living in camps inside Central African Republic (CAR) or sheltering with relatives and host families.

Rooted in longstanding resentment, the conflict erupted in 2013 when the mainly Muslim Seleka group seized power and the mainly Christian anti-balaka group formed in response. Atrocities were committed by both sides, leaving more than 6,000 dead and forcing an exodus of Muslims.

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Already chronically poor and unstable, CAR’s largely forgotten conflict has worsened a dire situation, disrupting food production and basic services and leaving swaths of territory under the control of armed groups and warlords. Today the UN says 2.3 million people are in need of aid, and half the population are without enough food.

There were tentative hopes of peace after a new president was elected in February, but a recent upsurge in violence – primarily in the north – has caused a new wave of displacement, says the UN’s refugee agency, with its human rights chief warning that he fears a “re-escalation”.

CAR remains a country on edge, where rumours of impending attacks fly freely amid the terrifying truths, and the resulting tension is palpable. 

 

CAR Displaced
Abou Zenebou, 18, her husband Sambo and son Zongabona, three, have been in Douya since fleeing their home in Jean Basse along with around 100 others in April. 'Men started shooting during the night. I was scared of dying - someone was killed right in front of me. We ran into the bush, then took four days to walk here. At home we have our own fields, but everything here costs money and we have none. I don't know if we can ever go back,' she says. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
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CAR Displaced
A woman shells peanuts donated by an imam to people in Koui, which has received up to 1,400 displaced families in recent months. The conflict's cycle of attack and retaliation by religious and ethnic groups has also complicated historical antagonisms between settled agriculturalists, who are usually Christian or animist, and nomadic herders, who are primarily Muslim. Cattle thefts or attacks can spark revenge violence, which sends civilians fleeing. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
At just 16, Zaitouma Baba is alone with a baby and a toddler after fleeing her home in Sangodoro. 'I was asleep when I heard gunfire and I just left with my children. It was a mess – my husband went another way and I don't know where he is.' In Koui she has found sanctuary in the compound of a local Muslim chief. Unlike many parts of the province, which Muslims have fled for neighbouring countries, the town still has a relatively mixed population. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Aisatou, 50, and Oumaron, 61, stand in the room they live in with their three grandchildren, pictured, in Koui. They also fled Sangodoro two months ago, and now survive by collecting wood to sell. 'Most of the houses in our village have been burned, so it would be difficult to go back,' says Oumaron. Angrily waving his arm over the wall he rattles off a list of nearby settlements, saying: 'They are all empty.' [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Ipende Margarite and her daughter are both Christians married to Muslims. They fled the village of Sangrelime when the anti-balaka came looking for Muslim men. 'Our husbands managed to run but we've had no news of them since. When the men banged the door I grabbed all the children and held them to protect them,' she says, making a circle with her arms. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Cameroonian peacekeepers from the UN's MINUSCA mission keep watch over an airstrip in Paoua. The threat of violence is still a daily reality in CAR, where a 12,000-strong UN contingent remains. This month the UN head of peacekeeping operations, Hervé Ladsous, said CAR's security situation was still 'fragile and reversible'. France has been gradually pulling out the troops it deployed to the former colony during the height of the conflict. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
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CAR Displaced
The blackened remains of a motorbike and household items bought to sell are strewn along the roadside, south of Ngbama. Four Christians transporting the goods on a well-worn trade route from Cameroon were killed here in May, and their belongings set alight. Believing the attack had been carried out by Muslim herders - many of whom are now backed by their own armed groups - some people fled the area fearing fighting would erupt. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Like many NGOs, Action Against Hunger displays vehicle stickers to show its workers never carry arms. The security situation in CAR makes delivering aid a challenge. Two drivers from Doctors Without Borders were killed in ambushes in May and June, which led to a temporary suspension of its work. Action Against Hunger's rapid response mechanism team (RRM) tries to get to crisis areas first, to evaluate need on behalf of aid organisations. 'We will go where other people cannot go,' says team leader Simon Quet. [Paula Dear/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
A member of the Action Against Hunger team - which operates in CAR under its French name Action Contre la Faim (ACF) – gathers information from a woman who has fled to the village of Mann. Moments after this photograph was taken the aid workers were ordered back to their cars because the village had been surrounded by the anti-balaka, who were mobilising to retaliate against opposition attacks further north in Ngouandaye. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
On the road back to Bocaranga the team encounters more displaced people. In Bezere, locals say some people have recently arrived from a village close to Ngouandaye. One man in the throng, right, says he fled by motorbike from Assana, after three local villages were attacked. [Paula Dear/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Simon Pierre Randal, 40, says he arrived in Kellé Clair from a village near Ngouandaye just one day ago. His pregnant wife and three children are 'traumatised by what we have left behind,' he says. 'Everyone in the village left at the same time, it was chaotic. We managed to take some clothes. At home we were cultivating food. We've just arrived here so we don't know yet how we will support ourselves.' [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Children eat rice in a village in Ouham-Pendé province, which has been badly affected by recent flare-ups of sectarian violence. Nearly 6,000 people have fled to Chad and Cameroon since mid-June, says the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
At the children's hospital back in the capital Bangui, Corinne Ngombe waits with her two-week old baby Ezechiel while doctors examine her daughter Sara, two, who is suffering from malaria and severe malnutrition. The family is living in a displacement camp on the edge of the city, having fled their home in 2014 when it was burned down by the Seleka. 'I don't have any money to buy food. We are trying to grow things near the camp, like manioc, but it's not very nutritious,' she says. [Paula Dear/Al Jazeera]
CAR Displaced
Eighteen-month-old Clemence Mokbem is treated at the specialist nutrition unit in Bangui's children's hospital. Suffering from severe malnutrition, she became ill after being unable to eat because of successive bouts of malaria. Up to 30 children die every day in CAR because of malnutrition, according to Action Against Hunger. [Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Al Jazeera]