A Disaster in Central African Republic

The global community appears oblivious to the situation in the Central African Republic from where 20pc of the population has reportedly fled to neighbouring countries following widespread killings, rapes and looting. UN officials have warned that without international intervention, the situation can degenerate into genocide. Observers claim that the 1,600-strong French force and some African troops are unable to control the anarchy as frenzied mobs indulge in what the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court called “hundreds of killings, acts of rape and sexual slavery, destruction of property, pillaging, torture, forced displacement” and use of child soldiers. Entire villages have been burnt down and fields abandoned, raising fears of an acute food crisis. A Human Rights Watch official said children were being slaughtered in front of their parents. Nearly a million people, mostly Muslim, have fled to Chad and Cameroon.