AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICA - "Strong insecurity in the diocese, while the UN sends contradictory messages", denounces the Bishop of Kaga-Bandoro

Monday, 15 October 2018 bishops   un   evangelization   armed groups   banditry  

Bangui (Agenzia Fides) - "Where is the truth?" asks His Exc. Mgr. Tadeusz Kusy, Bishop of Kaga-Bandoro, in the central-northern part of the Central African Republic, complaining about the lack of transparency on behalf of MINUSCA (UN Mission in Central Africa) in the management of local displaced persons.
In Bandoro more than 15,000 inhabitants have been driven out from their homes by Seleka rebels for more than 4 years. These people live in camps for displaced persons three kilometers from the city. According to Mgr. Kusy, the local authorities and those of the UN launch contradictory messages to displaced people. On the one hand, they invite the population to rediscover the community life of the past in their neighborhoods, "but at the same time they are building structures 3 kilometers from their houses, and they are told: "You can stay here" therefore where is it? the truth? There is no truth in these programs", the Bishop denounces.
Mgr. Kusy emphasizes the human drama of the lives of displaced persons, in particular "children under the age of 4, born in the camps, who do not know what a normal life in a home means. They are children marked by the scars of life, because since birth they do not know the normal life of a family home, in a normal neighborhood".
The Bishop also denounces insecurity on the roads connecting the various places of the diocese. For example, in July the Burundian contingent of the Blue Helmets was withdrawn, which controlled the road between Bandoro and Ndombetté.
Insecurity due to the presence of armed groups and bandits has a strong impact on pastoral activities. In the area between Ndélé and Kaga-Bandoro there are Séléka guerrillas and Sudanese and Chadian mercenaries, who steal vehicles and motorcycles. "I had planned - says Mgr. Kusy, a pastoral visit to that area in December 2017; but I managed to only do it in May 2018".
Even more serious was the incident that happened this summer when he went to the Plenary Assembly of the Episcopal Conference held in Berbérati from 18 to 26 June, Mgr. Kusy and his entourage were robbed by some street bandits. "During the robbery, the diocese lost the documents stored in the computer of the treasurer: all the diocesan accounting and all the documentation of the diocesan Caritas", says the Bishop. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 15/10/2018)


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