Brussels, 09/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - At the very moment French troops were beginning the disarmament of the militias in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, an ECHO Flight plane from the EU's humanitarian air transport services arrived in Douala, the capital of Cameroon, on Monday 9 December to establish a humanitarian air bridge between the Central African Republic (CAR) and the neighbouring Cameroon. On Sunday, the European Commission announced that an air bridge would be set up between the two countries to support humanitarian operations in the Central African Republic, where international stabilisation efforts are being stepped up by way of the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (AFISM-CAR) and the French military operation.
The ECHO Flight plane, a CRJ 200 jet, with a 50-passenger or 50 tonnes of freight capacity, will make daily flights between Bangui and Douala in an effort to bring humanitarian goods and personnel into the country. At the same time, the Commission has strengthened its humanitarian experts team based in Bangui, which will seek to cooperation with the humanitarian agencies on the ground and facilitate the task of getting humanitarian aid through.
In a press release published on Sunday, Kristina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response said that, “in recent days, we have heard horrific stories of massacres from CAR… The arrival of international forces in Bangui and their deployment beyond the capital represent the only hope of security of millions of people who have been living in fear most of this year. ECHO Flight is making a vital contribution to making sure that humanitarian aid reaches those most desperately in need, providing a means of delivery for essential life-saving services”.
In 2013, the EU has doubled its aid to the CAR, bringing it to €20 million (conpared to €8 million in 2012). This is still a derisory sum in comparison with that mobilised for Syria (€0.5 billion) and with regard to the breadth of the crisis in this African country - where turmoil, abuse and the murder of civilians has been rife since the overthrow of the president by the former Seleka rebels last March.
“The needs will remain enormous for some time (…). It is clear that much more funding will be required” for the CAR, warned Georgieva, who appeals “to international donors to be compassionate and generous for a crisis which remained forgotten far too long” (see EUROPE 10910). Georgieva paid tribute to the humanitarian workers from the NGOs, the Red Cross and United Nations, “who have stayed on to help people in Bangui and in the interior of CAR throughout the events of recent months”.
Some 1,600 French soldiers have been deployed in the CAR since Sunday as part of the Sangaris operation, which is presented as a military operation with an ultimate humanitarian goal, in support of AFISM, and in the process leading to the elections, according to France's President François Hollande. On Friday 6 December, the European Commission announced funding of €50 million from the African Peace Facility in order to support this international force (see EUROPE 10979). High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton welcomed the adoption by the UN Security Council of Resolution 2127 and underlined that the re-establishment of security and protection for the civilian populations is crucial. (AN/transl.fl)