Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Tensions between Muslims and Christians rise in CAR
At least 26,000 people live in squalid camps around a largely abandoned town after armed groups faced-off there in May.

Sorin Furcoi , Azad Essa | 14 Jun 2017 10:07 GMT | Human Rights, War & Conflict, Humanitarian crises, Africa, Central African Republic

Bria, Central African Republic - In mid-May the armed group the Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC) marched into the town of Bria in the Central African Republic (CAR). Tens of thousands of, mostly Christian, civilians were displaced as the group faced off with anti-balaka fighters in the town, located some 600km northeast of the capital, Bangui. Around 85 percent of the town's residents fled.

At least 60 people were killed in Bria, as the FPRC rebels, a faction of the Seleka, a Muslim-led coalition that toppled then President Francois Bozize in a coup in 2013, targeted the mainly Christian anti-balaka fighters and anyone they considered to be associated with the group.

Thousands of people - both Muslim and Christian - have been killed in the country and almost a million displaced since the coup.

Christians and Muslims have been pitted against each other, although most analysts agree that the conflict is actually about taxation and who has control of the country's mineral resources.

But the religious dimension to the armed groups and the violence they have wrought has nurtured animosity between the communities and made them increasingly isolated from one another.

In Bria, the IDP camps are mainly inhabited by Christians, while those residents who remain in the town are largely Muslim.

The two communities steer clear of each other, fearing reprisal attacks. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says there are daily incidents between Christians and Muslims in the town - which remains tense, economically dysfunctional and in a state of limbo.

A month after the FPRC forces entered, some 41,000 people continue to live in squalid conditions in IDP camps around the town. In the PK3 camp, located 3km outside the town centre, around 26,000 people, mostly women and children, live in shelters made of pieces of wood sourced from the surrounding forests and plastic sheets provided by UN agencies.

Sporadic violence has broken out in several areas of central and eastern CAR over the past month. Hundreds have been killed. There are currently more than 500,000 IDPs across the country.

When Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC) forces marched into the town of Bria in mid-May, around 85 percent of its occupants left for IDP camps. Many say they will not return while the FPRC remains in their town. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Some 41,000 IDPs are spread over seven camps around Bria, the capital of the Haute-Kotto prefecture. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

The PK3 camp, which is close to the UN base in Bria, has more than 26,000 inhabitants. The camp has just 18 latrines. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Christiane Befio, 47, and her family of 10 fled into the surrounding forest after a shooting incident around her home. When they returned the following morning, they found that their home had been razed to the ground. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

The UN mission in CAR, known as MINUSCA, guard the camp, but residents say that armed men continue to enter at will, making their lives there feel precarious. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Hale Bade Florence and her husband were forced to flee to the camp after her family was accused of funding anti-balaka rebels in the town. She says the FPRC looted their home and stole all their property. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

The camp also houses civilians who were displaced in the violence of November 2016. Marie Yanzopa, 80, lost all six of her children when rebels fought over the town and burned down her house. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

Lines of wooden stalls and homes lie abandoned across the town of Bria. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

At least 60 people were killed in the town. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

The camp lies on the main road that links Bria to Bambari, CAR's second-largest town, prompting Muslims to stay away from the main road in fear of reprisal attacks from anti-balaka elements in the camp. [Azad Essa/Al Jazeera]

The UN mission in Bria is the headquarters of the battalion of Moroccan peacekeepers in CAR. There are also Zambian, Nepali, Gabonese and other nationalities of peacekeepers in Bria. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]