Brussels, 29/08/2013 (Agence Europe) - Although the spotlight is currently on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, it is also appropriate for the EU and the international community to focus attention on the gravity of the situation in the Central African Republic where there is a “forgotten” crisis, all members of the European Parliament development committee agreed on Wednesday 28 August. The meeting was chaired by Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, France) and Jean-Louis de Brouwer, Director of ECHO (the Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection service). It was quite deliberate that the exchanges of views on these two crises were held the same day.
De Brouwer underlined (our translation throughout) that: “On one side, we have the most dramatic crisis of the whole decade in Syria and, on the other, a humanitarian crisis that is just as acute for the whole of the central African population. There are 4.6 million people in desperate need but no-one speaks of them. There is a disparity in perception and means. People are suffering, whether or not they are in the limelight”. He went on to speak of “a country that is completely derelict, in addition to being political unstable due to the insecurity throughout that country”, insecurity that extends to both the local population and to humanitarian workers. There is a dramatic need to provide shelter for 260,000 displaced persons; 55,000 refugees are in a very difficult situation; farmers no longer have access to their land; livestock farmers have their cattle stolen; all sectors require food aid; the malaria epidemic is worse than during previous years while medical stocks have been pillaged; and access to drinking water and to sanitation is non-existent. “Cash needs to be injected into the local economy, but that would be a premium for the pillagers. There is no way of overcoming the situation today without international mobilisation”, the ECHO director said, which is why Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, and Valerie Amos, who is responsible for humanitarian coordination at the UN, set off on a campaign during July to heighten awareness to this problem. While €8 million were mobilised by the EU in 2012, this year €20 million have already been committed - far from the half a billion euro for the Syrian crisis. (AN/transl.jl)