Star Farrow sees Central African "forgotten" crisis
Source: Reuters
(Adds mayor, details, previous BANGUI) By Alistair Thomson BIRAO, Central African Republic, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Film star Mia Farrow toured a stricken town in Central African Republic on Sunday to draw attention to what aid workers call a "forgotten crisis" worsened by spillover from war in Darfur. As goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, Farrow has campaigned for U.N. peacekeepers to be sent to Sudan's Darfur region and to parts of neighbouring Chad and Central African Republic caught up in spreading violence. On Sunday, she visited the remote northeastern town of Birao, near the borders with Sudan and Chad, which rebels captured in October before being forced out in a bloody advance by government troops backed by French troops and aircraft. "It's being called a triangle, and I needed to see the third side. I've been twice to Darfur, and last November to eastern Chad," Farrow told Reuters. "I don't understand why there is not a peacekeeping force." The U.N. Security Council has decided to send blue helmets to Darfur to stop what Washington says is genocide. But the Khartoum government denies its army and mounted Janjaweed militia allies are committing genocide against Dafuri tribes and has resisted deployment of U.N. troops. It has agreed only to phased U.N. support for an under-resourced African Union force struggling to stem the bloodshed. The violence has fuelled rebellions in Chad and Central African Republic, triggering calls for U.N. troops to deploy in areas bordering Darfur. The Security Council sent a technical team to both countries to look into the idea further. It visited Birao, where Farrow launched a UNICEF vaccination scheme on Sunday. "To the Security Council, I would say that we need peace and security in CAR. It's not just for us -- it's for Chad and Sudan," Birao's mayor, Ahamat Moustapha Am-Gabo, told Reuters. "FORGOTTEN CRISIS" The country has suffered several years of attacks by bandits, armed rebels and government troops that have forced an estimated 220,000 people from their homes in what Bob Kitchen of the International Rescue Committee called a "forgotten crisis". "There has been a very limited humanitarian response, and the situation is continuing to deteriorate," he told Reuters. Some 50,000 refugees have crossed the border into southern Chad, and 20,000 into Cameroon. Another 150,000 are displaced within Central African Republic, many living rough in the bush. "If particular attention and assistance are not given to address the situation in CAR, this human drama is likely to degenerate into a humanitarian catastrophe," the U.N. World Food Programme said in a statement. Farrow is due to address the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 27 on Chad and Central African Republic. "What does it say about the greatest institution on earth that in the face of a genocide all we can do is ask permission of the perpetrators to come in and save innocent civilians," Farrow said.
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