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Donors move to aid Central African Republic
Foreign donors are ramping up aid to remote, neglected Central African Republic because they fear cross-border conflicts in neighbouring Sudan's Darfur and Chad could expand and feed on a vacuum of state authority there.Plagued by decades of dictatorship, unrest, coup attempts and rebellions, the vast but sparsely populated former French colony is ranked among the world's least developed states. Basic infrastructure is in ruins, bandits roam the bush unchecked by the army or police and borders are left unguarded. "Everyone's heard about Congo, Darfur, and the Great Lakes, but we've suddenly realised there is this big empty country in the middle of it all with very permeable borders," Fiona Ramsey of the European Commission's delegation in Bangui told Reuters. "Though it's a much smaller conflict, it is a large land mass. It allows smuggling of natural resources. It allows the circulation of arms," she added. Landlocked Central African Republic's strategic significance at Africa's heart went largely ignored until an anti-government rebellion in Sudan's western Darfur province erupted in 2003, triggering a political and ethnic conflict that sent raiders and refugees spilling into neighbouring states like Chad. Posted by: Fred 2008-07-17 |
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