RCA: A catástrofe

A POLITICAL crisis in the Central African Republic is on the verge of spiralling out of control. The country of 4.6m people has been in turmoil ever since a rebel group known as Séléka ousted President François Bozizé in March. Human-rights groups say abuses have multiplied. UN and American officials have gone so far as to warn that the conflict is at risk of leading to “genocide”. Séléka forces from the predominantly Muslim north are hoarding food and prey on civilians. Michel Djotodia, whom they made president, seems to have turned against them and told the rebel forces to disband but they seem to have refused to do so.

Hostility to Séléka has led to the formation of self-defence groups. They are targeting the movement and, in some cases, Muslim civilians, provoking tit-for-tat reprisals. The number of refugees may now exceed 400,000. Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s head, says he is preparing plans to send up to 9,000 peacekeepers to the country, pending a Security Council resolution. But that could take months, whereas humanitarian organisations are calling for immediate action. Should there be a “precipitous deterioration in the situation”, says Mr Ban, the UN might respond on an emergency basis, drawing on troops from neighbouring peacekeeping missions. The UN has eight of them in Africa, including Congo, Darfur, Mali and South Sudan. The American government is loth to lobby for a UN peacekeeping mission, arguing that an African Union force that is already supposed to be holding the ring should “provide the immediate security that CAR needs.” On the ground, however, it seems clear that regional missions are not robust enough to protect the many thousands of civilians already in distress. The Economic Community of Central African States, a regional club of six that includes the CAR, deployed 2,500 peacekeepers earlier this year—to little effect. The African Union is due to take charge of the operation next month, and to boost its size to 3,600, but has experienced financial and logistical problems. The Economist