The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced this weekend the drastic reduction of its humanitarian action in the Central African Republic, because of violence targeting its employees, especially in the north center of the country, we read in a press release transmitted to the press.
“Affected by a succession of security incidents endangering its staff and its action, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is forced to suspend the movements of its teams and to drastically reduce its humanitarian activities in Kaga-Bandoro, in Nana-Grebizi, in the north-central part of the Central African Republic ”, we read in the press release. “It is totally unacceptable.
We can no longer work under these conditions, ”said Bruce Biber, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in the Central African Republic. “We have no choice but to reduce our humanitarian activities and the movement of our teams until security conditions are met again.
However, we will continue to provide life-saving emergency services at the Kaga-Bandoro hospital and water supply for the displaced persons’ site, ”he added. Humanitarian workers are not a direct target of armed groups, but their action is compromised in areas of high tension. “Humanitarian workers are not a target.
Each time we are attacked, it is our ability to deliver aid to the most vulnerable that is compromised, ”said Bruce Biber. Attacks targeting the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations take place regularly against their camps, from which equipment and aid for displaced people in the country are taken. “In the Central African Republic, people are already the first victims of conflict and violence, but also increasingly of the insecurity and the resulting crime.
It is also one of the most dangerous contexts for humanitarian workers, whose structures and staff have become the regular targets of criminal gangs, ”the ICRC worries again.
