Study finds unsafe conditions for mining workers in Central African Republic

From IRIN, a new study shows how diamond mining workers in the Central African Republic are often subject to low wages and attacks from armed groups.

Thousands of people dependent on diamond mining in the eastern regions of the Central African Republic (CAR) earn pitiful wages and are continually harassed by local and foreign armed groups, says a new study by the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Poverty and crime characterize the diamond business in CAR, according to the report entitled Dangerous Little Stones: Diamonds in the Central African Republic.

“The inability of artisanal miners to escape poverty holds back development in mining areas and increases the risk of young men and women joining rebel groups in the hope of better alternatives,” it said.

Low education levels, high mining costs and limited production have had adverse effects. “Miners are mostly ignorant of a diamond’s real value and, even if they know it, they are obliged to sell at the price offered, sometimes by written contract to the collector who financed the work… A collector might buy a one-carat diamond from a miner at 80,000 CFA francs [US$160] and sell it to a buying office for 200,000-300,000 CFA francs [$400-$600],” said the report.

Additional costs such as the hiring of equipment and licensing fees make for a hand-to-mouth existence, especially for those struggling to feed large families.

CAR’s diamond deposits are alluvial, making extraction harder and industrial mining less feasible. At present, production is based on trial and error methods, and the use of shovels and baskets to collect gravel from river beds. An estimated 80,000-100,000 miners depend on artisanal mining for a livelihood.

The ICG report recommends formalizing the mining sector to lower mining-related costs, lift living standards and reduce illegal mining networks. Weak law enforcement benefits illegal miners and traders, with bandits also profiting in mining zones. The report also calls for the expansion of livelihood activities, including agriculture. According to the UN Children’s Fund, chronic malnutrition in CAR stems from, among other things, loss of income in mining areas.

Armed groups such as the Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix (CPJP) and the Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement (UFDR) remain active in the eastern diamond zone, making “the east a dangerous place to live and move around”, said the report, which noted that while diamond profits are not the only reason for rebel activity, they have contributed to making such rebellions harder to end in CAR.

Chadian connection

In late November, the CPJP took over the town of Birao in the northeastern province of Vakaga, causing population displacement after the departure of UN Mission troops deployed there. The CPJP has since been ousted by joint CAR-Chadian army soldiers.

The UN mission in CAR and Chad was established in 2007 to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian assistance and protect UN personnel in eastern Chad and northeastern CAR. It ended in May at the request of the Chadian government which pledged full responsibility for protecting civilians on its territory.

According to a 1 December report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the UN Security Council, risks in the northeast are attributable to ethnic, economic and political issues, with security remaining "stable, yet fragile" as security forces in Birao have limited capacity to fend off potential attacks.

LRA threat

Ban added that the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) also posed a threat, although the major sources of insecurity are banditry and people passing through the area with arms to sell. The most urgent threat, Ban said, stems from armed internal political opposition groups, especially the CPJP.

The LRA presence further south is, according to the ICG, “yet another reason for the UFDR to postpone disarmament”. A July decision by President Francois Bozizé - for Ugandan soldiers in pursuit of the LRA in CAR to leave Sam Ouandja, in Haute Kotto Province, in favour of more international support - left a gap which has been filled by UFDR.

The lack of peacekeepers there, given the Ugandan army withdrawal, is cause for concern as “[Ugandan] troops provided at least some protection to civilians,” said advocacy group Resolve.

Insecurity in parts of the southeast, due to the LRA presence, often forces residents to leave their villages. The population in and around M'Boki, Zémio, Rafaï and Obo in Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou provinces has almost doubled, with impacts on food and water availability, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The two provinces border the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Orientale Province and Southern Sudan’s Western Equatoria region, which have also come under a series of LRA attacks, prompting a recent call by humanitarian agencies for international action against the LRA.

Central African Republic president defends efforts to improve human rights at donor aid talks

from The International Herald Tribune

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Central African Republic's president defended his country's efforts to improve human rights at international donor talks Friday meant to bolster much needed economic and political reforms in his impoverished nation.

Francois Bozize presented a new development strategy to EU and U.N. officials in a bid to collect some €1.14 billion (US$1.6 billion) in aid to help pay for 300 projects included in the plan, such as building up his nation's underfunded military, to constructing much needed roads, bridges and schools.

Bozize acknowledged that many parts of his country remain under the control of various rebel groups and vulnerable to neighboring conflicts in Darfur and Chad, which he said were undermining efforts to fight poverty and bring stability.

The president, who seized power in a 2003 coup and was elected in a disputed 2005 vote, criticized a report by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch last month that said government troops were responsible for various atrocities at home against their own citizens.

The report said an elite unit of Bozize's presidential guard had been behind the burning of villages, killings of 30 civilians, including the beheading of a teacher in the north of the country, last year.

"The presidential guard is in charge of my security. They are not empowered to deal with internal security questions in the country," Bozize told reporters, denying that his government forces were involved.

He said other allegations of human rights violations which occurred over the past two years by various militias have been recognized.

"It has been two years, measures have now been taken," Bozize said.

He criticized the U.S. group for conducting a "clandestine investigation on the ground," adding he and his government "are available, at their disposition to meet with them" to discuss human rights concerns.

"Human rights are also hospitals, roads, schools," Bozize said. "We are undertaking a lot of efforts and making a lot of progress."

Bozize told officials from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and those from the EU and United Nations that his country was plagued by "large-scale banditry." He said it was a phenomenon that increases "the poverty and idleness of a large part of the active population."

Bozize hoped that the arrival of a U.N.-mandated EU peacekeeping force, which will deploy in his nation's northeastern border region with Chad and Sudan's Darfur region, will help stabilize the situation there and provide security for thousands of Darfur refugees.

Some 500 EU troops will be stationed there as part of a 3,000-strong force. The Central African Republic and Chad are affected by the spillover of violence from Sudan's Darfur region.

U.N. officials estimate that around 3 million people have been uprooted by conflicts in the region, including the fighting in Darfur and unrelated rebellions in Chad and Central African Republic. The majority — some 2.25 million — are Darfuris displaced within Darfur.

The EU said it will spend around €137 million (US$196.03 million) in aid over the next six years for Central African Republic, a country which is often ignored by donors.

The nation has suffered decades of army revolts, coups d'etat and rebellions since the nation of 3.6 million gained independence from France in 1960.

Despite being landlocked, the country is rich in gold, diamonds and other minerals, but its governments have chronically lacked funds, unable to meet payrolls of the military and civil servants.

International observers are growing increasingly concerned about instability in the region where Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic meet and have focused much needed attention on the situation in Central African Republic.

Central African Republic Faces Deteriorating Humanitarian Situation

from Reuters Alert Net

Source: CARE International - UK
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

A joint assessment conducted by CARE International, the Norwegian Refugee Council and World Vision has determined that the Central African Republic is facing a serious humanitarian situation and is now at a crossroads.

Although the Central African Republic has just received $200 million in foreign investments to exploit uranium mines, and has both gold and diamonds, decades of poverty compounded by rebel attacks and incursions from the fighting in Darfur and Chad have made economic development extremely difficult. The UN estimates that 282,000 people, out of a population of four million, have been forced to flee their homes. At least 212,000 are internally displaced and 70,000, including 60% of the country's livestock owners, have fled the country altogether.

While sporadic warfare has taken a toll, the country is also suffering from decades of crushing poverty and a lack of basic infrastructure. Only 39% of the population has access to safe drinking water, and nearly 30% of the country's children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and nearly 300,000 have been cut off from further education. 75% of the country has no access to toilets or sanitary facilities.

The 9-person assessment team, headed by Tom Friedeberg, who has had extensive experience as a country director for CARE in numerous assignments, Mpako Foaleng, country analyst for the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Paul Sitnam, an emergency coordinator for World Vision, reported that if an effort to reverse the country's downward spiral is not made soon, the situation could degenerate into a full-blown humanitarian emergency.

"The biggest problem is the 30 years of neglect and underdevelopment that needs to be addressed," says Friedeberg. "Without an environment of stability, organizations that are interested in providing long term assistance with development programming will not be able to function in that environment and will continue to have to work in short term solutions."

The NRC's Mpako Foaleng is particularly concerned about the impact on youth. "Children currently living with their parents in the bush have had no access to education," she says. "Some adolescent boys and girls and young single mothers joined the rebels to seek protection, while others were forcibly recruited as child soldiersor taken as wives. Bringing schools to where children and adolescents have taken refuge will reduce the level of their vulnerability."

Paul Sitnam concurs. "We got a sense of chronic underdevelopment exacerbated by the conflict," he says. "Many people are coming almost to the end of their coping strategies. We saw a need for peace and stability so that people can get back to their everyday lives. If that happens we can move in with longer term development."

The situation concerning food and access to it is becoming particularly acute. Much of the past harvest (food and seeds) has been destroyed or lost, leaving little for the affected people to eat. As a result, they have had to rely more and more on their coping strategies for finding food- well in advance of the usual 'hungry season' which normally extends from around May to August. To compound this, the lack of available seed stock does not bode well for the 2007 harvest.

The assessment confirmed the findings of previous assessments that the situation in Northern CAR is primarily a humanitarian protection crisis. As suggested by some international actors, increased international presence would certainly discourage targeting civilians in the short term, and it would have an impact on their protection, however, protection on a broader scale can only be provided by the government.

The assessment recommended that the government and rebels remove the "fear factor" by issuing clear orders to their forces to respect international humanitarian law and human rights law and by ending attacks and abuse against civilians.

The assessment determined that the United Nations could play a crucial role in convincing the government to ensure better protection for civilians and to adopt transparent protocols governing humanitarian assistance and facilitating aid.

CARE, World Vision and the Norwegian Refugee Council are international non-governmental organizations devoted to the elimination of poverty and the protection of civilian populations at risk. For more information contact:

CARE: William Dowell, Media and Information Coordinator. Tel: +41 79 590 30 47. Email: dowell@careinternational.org

NRC: Mpako Foaleng, Email Tel: +41 22 799 07 07 Foaleng@nrc.ch.

WORLD VISION: Paul Sitnam, Tel: +221 638 3595. Email paul_sitnam@wvi.org

[Press Release] Central African Republic faces deteriorating humanitarian situation

from Reuters Alert Net

A joint assessment conducted by CARE International, the Norwegian Refugee Council and World Vision determined that the Central African Republic is facing a serious humanitarian situation and is now at a crossroads.

Although the Central African Republic has just received $200 million in foreign investments to exploit uranium mines, and has both gold and diamonds, decades of poverty compounded by rebel attacks and incursions from the fighting in Darfur and Chad have made economic development extremely difficult. The UN estimates that 282,000 people, out of a population of four million, have been forced to flee their homes. At least 212,000 are internally displaced and 70,000, including 60% of the country's livestock owners, have fled the country altogether. While sporadic warfare has taken a toll, the country is also suffering from decades of crushing poverty and a lack of basic infrastructure. Only 39% of the population has access to safe drinking water, and nearly 30% of the country's children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and nearly 300,000 have been cut off from further education. 75% of the country has no access to toilets or sanitary facilities. 's children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and nearly 300,000 have been cut off from further education. 75% of the country has no access to toilets or sanitary facilities.

The 9-person assessment team, headed by Tom Friedeberg, who has had extensive experience as a country director for CARE in numerous assignments, Mpako Foaleng, country analyst for the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Paul Sitnam, an emergency coordinator for World Vision, reported that if an effort to reverse the country's downward spiral is not made soon, the situation could degenerate into a full-blown humanitarian emergency. "The biggest problem is the 30 years of neglect and underdevelopment that needs to be addressed," says Friedeberg. "Without an environment of stability, organizations that are interested in providing long term assistance with development programming will not be able to function in that environment and will continue to have to work in short term solutions."

The NRC's Mpako Foaleng is particularly concerned about the impact on youth. "Children currently living with their parents in the bush have had no access to education," she says. "Some adolescent boys and girls and young single mothers joined the rebels to seek protection, while others were forcibly recruited as child soldiersor taken as wives. Bringing schools to where children and adolescents have taken refuge will reduce the level of their vulnerability."

Paul Sitnam concurs. "We got a sense of chronic underdevelopment exacerbated by the conflict," he says. "Many people are coming almost to the end of their coping strategies. We saw a need for peace and stability so that people can get back to their everyday lives. If that happens we can move in with longer term development." The situation concerning food and access to it is becoming particularly acute. Much of the past harvest (food and seeds) has been destroyed or lost, leaving little for the affected people to eat. As a result, they have had to rely more and more on their coping strategies for finding food--well in advance of the usual 'hungry season' which normally extends from around May to August. To compound this, the lack of available seed stock does not bode well for the 2007 harvest.

The assessment confirmed the findings of previous assessments that the situation in Northern CAR is primarily a humanitarian protection crisis. As suggested by some international actors, increased international presence would certainly discourage targeting civilians in the short term, and it would have an impact on their protection, however, protection on a broader scale can only be provided by the government.

The assessment recommended that the government and rebels remove the "fear factor" by issuing clear orders to their forces to respect international humanitarian law and human rights law and by ending attacks and abuse against civilians.

The assessment determined that the United Nations could play a crucial role in convincing the government to ensure better protection for civilians and to adopt transparent protocols governing humanitarian assistance and facilitating aid.

CARE, World Vision and the Norwegian Refugee Council are international non-governmental organizations devoted to the elimination of poverty and the protection of civilian populations at risk.