Central African Republic risks sliding into full-scale war, an aid agency has warned, after the UN security council failed to agree terms for extending a peacekeeping mission in the country.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said international efforts to solve the crisis were failing and civilians were routinely being targeted.
“The UN effort is not succeeding, the donor effort is not succeeding and the government is in no way steering the country toward good governance,” said Egeland. “Nor are CAR’s neighbours playing the role of being good neighbours stabilising the country...The mission is not even close to fulfilling its mandate of protecting the civilian population,” Egeland added. “Civilians are routinely targeted, killed, abused – the sexual violence is beyond belief”. He continued, “If the conflict continues like right now, full-scale war is much more realistic than any kind of reconciliation and reconstruction outcome we thought of in 2016,” said Egeland.
"This is a place where a hand grenade and loaf of bread are more or less the same price,” he said, adding that the prevalence of diamonds and other precious metals has intensified violence by armed groups. “It is very easy to get guns and grenades for a low price, and unemployed, desperate young men are even cheaper.”
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