Au Revoir Bangui

Today I’m on my way back to Douala and then I’ll head out to Yaounde the following morning. This leg of the mission has ended on a good note. We got a lot of new information about the humanitarian situation and I was glad to visit the Central African Republic. Unfortunately, I don’t have much good to share about the country. I really hoped that stories I’d heard were exaggerations, but they weren’t. This is a chronically underdeveloped failed state. The government concentrates itself on Bangui (the capital) and completely neglects the rest of the country. And I’m not even sure what they’ve done in Bangui because it’s the most bare and basic capital city I’ve ever visited.
The country is land locked, road locked, and as a result access locked. It is virtually impossible to travel freely throughout the country despite the security situation. The presence of rebels and bandits only further exacerbates the situation, but roads connecting major cities are not paved, there is virtually no policing, and there are no ports of entry. It’s a truly sad situation and there needs to be an overhaul in the regime in order to start addressing the needs of the people and the country.
On a more exciting note, when I thought traveling through rebel territory was frightening enough, my colleague and I decided to stop and talking to a group of rebels on our way back to Bangui. I was a nervous wreck because they all had rifles (old, but they still worked!) and they looked RUGGED! They called the commander of their unit out of his hiding place to speak with us and he was scary looking. He looked like he had been living in the bush for months, but I am almost positive he was simply living off the villagers. He had locked hair that was extremely dirty and was just scruffy. We spoke to him and second in command and though they wouldn’t go into details about their cause because they have an official spokesperson, one said he wanted peace while the other said he wanted power. Considering the fact that the peace dialogues between the government and rebel group begin on Monday, it may be a good idea for them to decide on an agenda…Unfortunately I did not take a picture of them. I was too scared to ask, but in the end it was a harmless encounter. A few of the rebels were peeking into our truck to see what we had, but it was more so curiosity because they didn’t touch anything or ask any questions. Even though I’m happy the rebels allowed us to travel through their occupied territory without disruption, its unfortunate that they often completely terrorize and loot the villages and communities they are supposedly fighting for.

Entering Rebel Controlled Territory

Today was by far the most daring and dangerous day of my life! I remember a few years ago when I was shook over getting lost in the woods in Uganda, considering the civil war. Well in that case, I was no where near the area where the conflict had happened. But it was my first time in the country, in the woods, with no guide and a bunch of people who were as clueless as me about where to go. That hike has NOTHING on what I did today.
Right now there is a civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) that has compounded the already destitute situation in the country. The main factors of the conflict are the government soldiers and a rebel group who does not want the current president (Bozize) in power because they are supporters of the previous president (Patasse), who the Bozize ousted. After a series of clashes for the past two going on three years, the two groups have taken control of different territories in the north. The situation is much more complicated than I am describing, but for the sake of understanding the basics of what I did today, I’ll leave it at that.
I’m sure you may be wondering how a group takes control of a territory in almost 2009. Well as I explained in a previous post, CAR is a very large country that is governed from the capital, in the deep south of the country. Due to the government’s low capacity, neglect, and downright indifference to the northern part of the country, rebels groups have been able to oust appointed state authorities (ie. mayors and other representatives) and take over complete control of provinces- authorizing the rule of law and even levying taxes. The government has sent forces to battle these groups and reclaim the land, which has led to several clashes within villages and thus the displacement of people.
Because the purpose of my trip is to assess the patterns of forced displacement, I have to go into these controlled areas and speak to villagers. And because CAR is severely lacking in infrastructure villages and towns are connected by single roads. Meaning everyone, citizens, humanitarians, rebels, and government forces all travel on the same road. Meaning if the government forces or rebels decide to battle that day one the road (which is where almost all of their battles occur) there is no way to escape it, except by running into the bush (which most displacement in this region has occurred).
So today, in order to find people who have been affected by conflict I ventured out into rebel territory. As daring and dangerous as this move was, it went quite well. Unlike other conflicts I’ve discussed on this blog, the main targets of this conflict are not civilians. Though civilians are affected because they are displaced due to fighting and often have their homes looted and burned in the crossfire, the rebel groups actually seek and fight government soldiers. For this reason, we were unable to drive through rebel controlled areas with ease. We slowed down each time we entered a village where they were posted, we greeted them and told them where we were going and then we continued. It was quite surprising. Though, I will say I was definitely uncomfortable seeing plain clothed males, some clearly as young as 15, holding rifles. I wish that they’d wear uniforms so that they could be more identifiable, but they are a rogue force and it is very apparent. And it was also apparent that in some communities the villagers were absolutely traumatized by their presence because they weren’t sure what violence they may bring in the form of looting or attracting other military factions. I couldn’t imagine living in a community that was controlled by a faction other than the state. It influences other groups to begin to force their own method of authority as well (which is being seen, but I will discuss in other post). All in all, it’s definitely the closed I’ve ever been to rebel forces and I’m happy things went well and I was given the opportunity to tell this story!

Turmoil In Khartoum

This weekend marked one of unimaginable turmoil in Khartoum as rebels attacked the city center. Bystanders reported that they could hear rounds of gunfire from the malls and airport. This is the closest rebels have ever been to Khartoum, prompting a 5pm curfew over the weekend and resulting in about 65 deaths.
The rebels came from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), allegedly backed by neighboring Chad.


As a result, Sudan has cut ties with Chad and has threatened retaliation.

The government contends that they have defeated the rebels. However, Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the JEMs, has contended that the attacks will not end until they take over the capital.