A delegation headed by Ambassador Fouad Maznaie, a representative of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Humanitarian Affairs Department, is reported to have arrived Chad on May 14, 2014. The Mission aims at assisting refugees displaced by the recent violence in the Central African Republic (CAR). The mission includes representatives from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Islamic Solidarity Fund, the International Islamic Relief Organization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Red Cross, IHH and Doctors Around the World from Turkey, the Charity Foundation from Qatar, and the Islamic Relief and the Muslim Aid from Britain. The Mission has already declared a donation of US$5 million comprising urgent humanitarian assistance which include building of tents for displaced persons and refugees, truckloads of food and medicine and sinking of wells. A plane load with shipment of medicine from Turkey is expected to arrive in the Sar region of Chad on 25 May 2014.
Earlier the OIC had held an emergency ministerial Executive Committee meeting at its General Secretariat in Jeddah on 20 February 2014 in which it was decided that a high-level delegation would be dispatched to the CAR in order to assess the prevailing situation on the ground and to show solidarity with the Muslim community who have become victim of gross human rights violations. The meeting also had decided to appoint an OIC special envoy to the Central African Republic. OIC Secretary General Iyad Amin Madani then appointed a former Senegalese foreign minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, as special envoy with the assignment of visiting Central African Republic and neighboring states to lay the groundwork for the delegation’s visit. This delegation now is expected to prepare a report on how to extend urgent humanitarian assistance to the displaced persons and refugees and to obtain first-hand information by visiting displaced persons camps in the Central African Republic and refugees camps in Cameroon and Chad. The Mission is mandated to assess and recommend needs for food and shelter, medical and educational needs for the refugees.
Background
Why has the OIC undertaken this mission? Clearly this is because almost all these refugees happen to be Muslim and all media reports during the past few months have highlighted the fact that Muslims were deliberately targeted and many parts of CAR have already been ethnically cleansed. Now the question is why and how Muslims have become victim in this conflict although officially the CAR has only 15 percent Muslim. The conflict has almost turned out to be a Christian-Muslim conflict only to support the clash of civilizations thesis. And this is a very serious development in the current international politics and must be examined carefully.
According to Think Africa Press (26 Feb 2014) the problem was never religious, rather it originated from ethnic orientation of government policies during the last three decades. It says, “[In] the CAR, we can see there has been a trend towards the politicisation of ethnicity, not religion. For example, former president André Kolingba (1981–93) explicitly rewarded his ethnic group, the Yakoma from southern CAR, with patronage and support. His successor, Ange-Félix Patassé (1993–2003) in turn dismissed the Yakoma and rewarded his own supporters from the northwest, mostly Sara-Kaba, with government positions and patronage. And Bozizé, who deposed Patassé and also came from the northwest, gave clear preferential treatment to the Gbaya. Kolingba, Patassé, and Bozizé all favoured different groups and politicised identity, but awarded privilege based on ethnic not religious terms. After all, all three were Christian.”
Earlier the French colonial administration established a political culture where force, rather than popular consent, was the source of authority. The French also cultivated commercial allies, exploited the territory’s resources, not to advance the native population’s wellbeing but their own and that of France. By setting up its authoritarian administration, colonial France transformed cultural groups, ethnic or religious, into state managed political categories. As with all colonial regimes, this strategy of divide and rule was meant to undermine the common political project of the African people and to prolong French dominance. France continued to have significant role in CAR military affairs and often called the shot, directly or indirectly, through its military capabilities, including local allies.
Discrimination against Muslims
The CAR got independence in 1960 and within a short period country’s politics turned to be ethnic based. The former colonial ruler France began to patronize authoritarian military personalities. The Muslim community, which was mainly a trading and farming community and survived under the colonial rule, increasingly became victim of discrimination. They became easy target of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) which was active in neighboring countries. According to Aljazeera, “for thirty years, the Lord’s Resistance Army has terrorised the rural population.” In its 2012 statement on International Religious Freedom in CAR the US State Department reported that, “Muslims continued to face discrimination in access to government services when low-level bureaucrats reportedly created informal barriers. The constitutional provision prohibiting religious intolerance was widely perceived as designed to protect Muslims; however, implementing legislation did not support the provision.”
In March 2103 a coalition forces known as Seleka in the local language overthrew the last authoritarian government of General Francios Bozize. A significant number of these rebels happened to be Muslim. Immediately the French dominated media depicted the conflict as a Christian-Muslim religious conflict and declared that Christians were under siege. The Seleka forces collapsed within months when they came under combined attack by the militia belonging to ethnic groups who had enjoyed power under the earlier authoritarian regimes. Within months over a million Muslims in the country came under heavy assault and were almost totally cleansed. Most took shelter in neighboring countries. In December 2013 France secured a UN Security Council resolution (2127 of 2013) to dispatch peace keeping troops to CAR. Unfortunately French troops took a partisan position in favor of the Christian militia and the armed forces under the former authoritarian regimes that were mainly Christian. With more than a million displaced populations the situation has reached a catastrophic stage.
The OIC initiative to undertake this humanitarian mission is timely and must be commended. This will definitely help soothing the Muslim frustration. This is important because such frustrations rouse extremism and provide ammunition to groups such as Boko Haram next door. However the international community must do more. The Chicago based body Justice for All, an interfaith group, after visiting the affected areas has reported that the Muslim Imam Oumar Layama of Bangui has taken refuge at the house of the Archbishop. But they have also reported that a Christian politician has been assassinated because of his public support for Muslim victims.
What Must be Done to Ensure Peace and Security
First of all one must recognize that the conflict in the Central African Republic is a huge security threat to international peace and this is not an isolated incident. The proponents of the clash of civilizations thesis and the Islamophobic elements, particularly in the media, seem to be encouraging and patronizing it. Therefore, the international community including the OIC must do the following:
1. The little effort undertaken by the local community under the leadership of the Archbishop and Imam of Bangui must be encouraged and whole-heartedly supported.
2. The effort of the Chicago based interfaith group Justice for All also must be supported and advanced;
3. Distinguished Christian individuals and groups must come forward to condemn extremist groups such as the LRA and other Christian militias in the region.
4. The UN peace keeping operations must not be led by troops from former colonial powers;
5. The OIC must convince its member-states to participate more actively in UN peace keeping operations.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Ahsan is the Vice-President of JUST.
22 May 2014