---
title: "Surge in barbaric attacks against civilians in Central African Republic"
description: "NRC, along with 27 organisations, is calling on the UN Security Council to undertake stronger efforts to protect the country’s civilians."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/news/2017/november/surge-in-barbaric-attacks-against-civilians-in-central-african-republic"
language: "en"
published: "2017-11-06T16:53:01Z"
modified: "2017-11-06T16:53:01Z"
---

![August 2017: Sixtytwo-year-old Marguerite Nguena lives with some of her seven children and some of her grandchildren in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. "On 5 December 2013, I fled to the Mpoko displacement site with my husband, children and grandchildren. A few months later my husband took a stray bullet at the site. It killed him," she says. Since 2013, numerous outbreaks of community violence have provoked fighting in Bangui. Photo: Alexis Huguet/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/car/alexis-huguet/alhuguet_nrc_bazanga_029.jpg)

# Surge in barbaric attacks against civilians in Central African Republic

Published 06. Nov 2017

[Central African Republic](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=38) [Protection](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=160) [UN](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=165) [War and conflict](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=308)

This article was first published more than 8 years ago

NRC, along with 27 organisations, is calling on the UN Security Council to undertake stronger efforts to protect the country’s civilians.

“World leaders must enable UN peacekeepers in [the Central African Republic](https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/old-versions/car) to protect innocent civilians against a surge in barbaric attacks, rape and torture,” said Eric Batonon, the country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). “Each day attacks are allowed to continue, more people get their future crushed and the trust among communities is diminishing.”

As the UN Security Council meets for consultations on the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic on Monday 06 November, 28 organisations call for a stronger effort to protect the country’s civilians, [in a letter to members of the Security Council](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/open-letters/car-unsc-cover-letter-final.pdf).

The mission’s mandate ends 15 November 2017, but the UN Secretary-General has recommended a continuation of the mandate and an increase in the troop ceiling by an additional 900 military personnel.

“Current levels of insecurity exceed those of 2014 when the mission was established, as does the severity of the humanitarian crisis now gripping the country,” stresses the letter to the Security Council members. The scale of violence in the country has increased dramatically over the last six months and the number of displaced people has reached 1.1 million, the highest level ever recorded.

“Lack of security and arbitrary attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers means that many people in need are cut off from humanitarian assistance,” Batonon added. “This has deadly consequences. Parents are unable to find sufficient food to their already malnourished children and basic health services are unavailable in many areas.”

There is also a dramatic lack of funding for humanitarian assistance. Donors have provided just one third of the money needed to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs this year.

**Facts**

- More 1.1 million people are now displaced by conflict in the Central African Republic, including 600,000 internally displaced people and 500,000 refugees.
- This means that one in every five Central Africans is now displaced.
- Four out of ten children under the age of five in the Central African Republic are chronically malnourished.
- 350 schools are currently closed due to conflict, depriving 400,000 children of an education.
- The country is at the bottom of the [Human Development Index](http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/CAF) and about half of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance.
- So far this year, donor countries have pledged just one third of the funds needed to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs. The UN appeal is for USD 497.3 million.
- The country topped [NRC’s list of neglected displacement crises](https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2016/the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises-2016) for 2017.