CAR Muslims face ethnic cleansing: Analyst

A political analyst has warned against an ethnic cleansing plot against the Muslim population in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The CAR has been facing deadly violence since December 2013, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which had toppled the government in March 2013.

On March 6, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said most of the Muslims had been driven out of the CAR’s western half, while thousands are at risk of being killed there.

In a Saturday interview with Press TV, Douglas DeGroot pointed to the forced exodus of the Muslim population from the western parts of the CAR, saying, “It is a kind of ethnic cleansing… that’s going on now.”

The analyst described the CAR conflict as unprecedented and warned, “This kind of situation can get out of control and be spread widely over much of Africa.”

On Friday, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said almost all of the more than 100,000 Muslims once residing in the CAR capital, Bangui, have fled the violence perpetrated by Christian militias.

DeGroot pointed to France’s military presence in the CAR and argued that Paris has adopted the measure partly over its concerns about China’s growing economic role across the African continent.

Some 2,000 French troops, supported by a 6,000-strong African Union force, are currently stationed in the strife-torn country. The foreign forces have so far failed to curb the violence. The French parliament has also approved the extension of France’s military intervention in the CAR beyond April.

On March 6, the UN Security Council discussed a proposal for the deployment of a 12,000-strong force to the CAR to contain the violence plaguing the country, but the talks ended inconclusively.