In protest against the brutal killing of 16 civilians, including three of its humanitarian workers, at Boguila Hospital on April 26, Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is reducing its activities in the Central African Republic (CAR) and related projects in neighbouring countries for one week to emergency medical care only. The organization will also evaluate the working environment for its staff and the future of its medical activities in the area.
“We urge the transitional government in CAR and all armed groups involved in the conflict to immediately and publicly condemn this horrific attack,” said Arjan Hehenkamp, general director of MSF.
“We demand that all armed groups take responsibility for the population living in areas under their control, to publicly commit to reining in their troops, and to respect civilians and humanitarian workers,” Hehenkamp continued. “We also ask that the transitional government, supported by international military forces, live up to their mandate and provide the population the protection they so urgently need.”
Government and armed groups fail to condemn the violence
MSF expressed shock that neither CAR’s transitional government nor representatives of armed groups have strongly condemned the massacre in Boguila, nor other similar acts of violence that have occurred throughout the country. It is crucial that parties to the conflict take responsibility and position themselves publicly on these attacks.
“An attack on MSF is an attack on one of the leading medical groups today in the country and, in certain areas, the only organization providing any kind of medical care,” said Hehenkamp. “We remain committed to providing the people of the CAR with the medical assistance that they need, but the various parties must also live up to their responsibilities.”
Over the past 18 months, MSF staff members have repeatedly been victims of violent acts, the majority of them in Ouham prefecture where Boguila is located. Staff from the Ministry of Health, as well as other international humanitarian organizations, have also been targeted in violent attacks in CAR.
Having endured more than a year of conflict, CAR’s population continues to suffer extreme levels of violence, forced displacement and an unprecedented health crisis, all of which have met with an indifferent response from the international community and peacekeeping forces deployed in the country.
An MSF support team heading to Castors Health Centre in Bangui, Central African Republic takes cover from gunfire.
MSF in CAR
Since 2006, MSF has managed the 115-bed hospital in Boguila, and has offered primary and secondary healthcare for an estimated 45,000 inhabitants in the region. The MSF teams also support seven health posts around Boguila in providing primary healthcare, mainly treating malaria. Each month, between 9,000
and 13,000 consultations are provided, and 5,000 to 10,000 people are treated for malaria.
MSF has been working in CAR since 1997. Currently MSF has more than 300 international staff and more than 2,000 Central African staff working in the country. MSF is running seven regular projects (in Batangafo, Carnot, Kabo, Ndélé, Paoua, Bria and Zémio) and six emergency projects (in Bangui, Berbérati, Boguila, Bossangoa, Bangassou and Bocaranga as well as mobile clinics in the northwest of the country). MSF teams are also providing assistance to Central African refugees who have fled to Chad, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo.
