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Boris Becker's recent attempts to escape bankruptcy by claiming to be a diplomat for the Central African Republic (CAR) seem to attract more attention from the international media than the country's dire humanitarian and military situation.
The CAR is on the verge of becoming a bankrupt state with one of the world's largest refugee and IDP crises and a plethora of armed factions fighting for control of the rich mineral resources, the territory and trade. The government has little power outside the capital Bangui.
Yet, the former German tennis star attempted last month to protest the bankruptcy of London because he was the sporting and cultural envoy of the CAR in the United States. European Union. International readers had even heard of the place.
Westerners, particularly the United States' ignorance of Africa, which has worsened under President Donald Trump and his notorious dismissal of "divine countries" Are commonplace. But even by African standards, the CAR has long been a hidden calamity.
Samantha Power, Barack Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, described the CAR as "the worst crisis most people have ever known". The Seleka alliance of predominantly Muslim rebels toppled President Francois Bozize
But at that time, the violence has at least sparked international concern, led by the former colonial power, France and Washington. The government visited the Central African Republic while Obama offered financial and military support to African and French troops trying to restore peace
Democratic elections failed
Seleka was dissolved at the end of 2013. Faustin Touadera, professor of mathematics, was elected president in 2016 after
But the violence has since developed and the international interest, especially in the United States, has declined sharply.
The original conflict between the Christians of the South and the Muslims of the North has been replaced by ethnic conflicts. divisions as the main driver of violence, although faith-based attacks continued.
At least 26 people were killed in the capital on May 1 when gunmen attacked a church on the edge of a Muslim neighborhood that had already been targeted in the conflict.
The attack could have been at least partially in retaliation for 28 people in April during clashes between UN peacekeepers and local security forces and groups armed in the enclave
A French force of 2,000 men officially ended its mission in 2016 civilians. The peacekeeping force of MINUSCA, composed of about 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 police officers, is too thin in a country larger than France while the violence spreads to remote areas.
Massacres, rapes and atrocities abound. According to estimates, up to 6,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in 2013 and human rights groups claim that crimes against humanity have been committed.
A special war crimes tribunal has been agreed in CAR, but with government control not expanding beyond Bangui, it is difficult to see how the culprits will be arrested.
Humanitarian workers became a target of rebel groups. 14 humanitarian organizations have recently suspended their efforts in the north and east because of attacks on staff.
More than 1.2 million people, a quarter of the population, have fled their country. houses, with about half of this number passing to neighboring countries, particularly Cameroon. About two million people, out of a population of 4.6 million, need humanitarian assistance after the fighting has disrupted agricultural production.
The world looks elsewhere
Yet, the international community has largely turned a blind eye. A $ 515 million humanitarian plan for CAR this year was only funded at 16% in early June
Neither violence nor chaos nor humanitarian crises are new in CAR , a country that, like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the disastrous history of colonial exploitation at almost constant turmoil, including five coups since the independence of France in 1960. [19659002] For decades it has been synonymous with instability, poor governance and corruption that has allowed it to remain one of the poorest countries in the world. His notoriety began soon after independence when Army Commander Jean-Bedel Bokassa took power in 1965 and 12 years later brutally crowned Emperor in a lavish ceremony costing $ 20 million which almost ruined the impoverished nation. 19659002] Those who live outside Bangui have long felt marginalized from economic development by decades of neglect and corruption by Ba sed elites in the capital. This alienation fueled the recruitment of rebel movements, particularly in the neglected north.
The CAR is located in a very rough neighborhood with four border countries – the DRC, Sudan, South Sudan and Chad – recently hit by civil wars that destabilized the region, as well as the country's own conflict. RCA. Sudanese and Chadian mercenaries are involved in the fighting.
But with international attention elsewhere, the end-of-suffering perspectives seem bleak.
More than a dozen militias largely ignored the president's attempt to initiate disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. It is perhaps ironic that Boris Becker, whose personal life and financial affairs often resemble a train accident, has chosen one of the most hit countries in Africa for his strange foray into the world .
– Agency (ANA / ND)
* Barry Moody was Africa Editor for Reuters for 10 years and editor for the Middle East for seven years, during which time he covered the war in Iraq. He has worked on every continent as one of the most experienced foreign correspondents and editors of the agency. His assignments included Italy, Asia, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Australasia and the United States. He was managing editorial operations in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal at the height of the EU debt crisis.
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