UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said there is “a distinct risk” the Central African Republic could end up divided as a result of sectarian violence and called for an international force to combat escalating atrocities.
Ban raised the possibility of the country being divided into Christian and Muslim regions for the first time late on Tuesday and said the global response was not matching the gravity of the situtation, the Associated Press news agency reported.
“Both Muslims and Christians have been murdered and forced to flee their homes,” Ban said. “The sectarian brutality is changing the country’s demography. The de facto partition of the CAR is a distinct risk.”
He urged the international community to support an African Union force and said that other nations should contribute troops to help stabilise the country.
“We cannot just continue to say ‘never again’. This, we have said so many times,” Ban said. “We must act concertedly and now to avoid continued atrocities on a massive scale.”
More than 1,000 people have been killed and nearly one million forced from their homes in CAR since December in violence pitting Christians and Muslims against each other.
Warning the situation was worsening, Ban announced he was sending Edmond Mulet, assistant secretary general for peacekeeping, to the country to consult with the African Union about transforming its force there into a UN peacekeeping contingent.
Activists in CAR have long called for a UN force, believing that it will be better-equipped and include a police contingent that could help better secure the capital Bangui.
Ban also called on the European Union to accelerate the deployment of a promised military operation, and said he spoke to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and asked him to consider sending more troops.
France has sent 1,600 soldiers to its former colony to bolster the nearly 6,000 peacekeepers from African nations.
The EU mission, expected to be made up of 500 to 600 troops, will be deployed to guard the airport in Bangui, where 100,000 people have taken refuge.
The poor, landlocked country descended into chaos after the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in March. Looting, rape and murder followed, bringing international pressure that saw Seleka leader Michel Djotodia resign last month. That in turn has been followed by Christian militia attacks on Muslims.
Tens of thousands of Muslims have fled Bangui in recent months.