Central African Republic

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The temporary base in Tagbara, north-east of Bambari, of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic was attacked by anti-balaka fighters today.  One peacekeeper was killed and 11 others were injured after several hours of exchange of fire. The Mission condemned the attack and deployed reinforcements to Tagbara.

The situation in the Central African Republic was deteriorating, with violence spreading fast and record numbers of people displaced, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs told Member States after a recent visit, emphasizing that existing urgent and critical needs were deepening.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is increasingly alarmed at the plight of thousands of Central African refugees who have fled to southern Chad since late 2017.  The influx is the biggest since 2014, and is overwhelming the ability of humanitarian agencies to respond.

The Secretary-General told the Security Council today that, despite passing resolution 2401 (2018), there had been no cessation of hostilities in Syria.  Violence continued in eastern Ghouta and beyond, and humanitarian aid continued to face blockages, with the humanitarian and human rights situation becoming more desperate by the day.

On 23 February 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic held informal consultations to consider the progress update of the Panel of Experts, which was submitted in pursuance of paragraph 28 (d) of resolution 2339 (2017).

The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly attack against education workers near Markounda in the north‑western part of the Central African Republic (Ouham prefecture) on 25 February 2018 by unknown assailants, which resulted in the killing of one United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) education consultant, two officials of the Ministry of Education of the Central African Republic and three members of a UNICEF national partner organization, Bangui Sans Frontières.

The United Nations Children’s Fund expressed deep sadness over the killing of its colleague, along with five other education workers, on 25 February in the north-western region of the Central African Republic, near Markounda, a remote area close to the Chadian border.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Mansour Ayyad Sh. A. Alotaibi (Kuwait):

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is calling for calm and restraint after reports of a refugee protest turning violent in Rwanda’s Kiziba refugee camp.  The camp hosts over 17,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, around 77 per cent of which are women and children.