Catholic Bishop Struggles to Reach 30,000 Violence Victims in CAR amid Insecurity, Poor Transport

Bangassou, 15 January, 2026 / 9:44 PM

The People of God in the Zemio area of the Central African Republic (CAR) is becoming increasing difficult to access owing to violence, exacerbating the region's humanitarian situation especially for those in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Coadjutor Bishop of the country’s Catholic Diocese of Bangassou has said.

Bishop Aurelio Gazzera told the Information Service of Propaganda Fide, Agenzia Fides, that the number of IDPs in the region has reached 30,000, with more than 2,000 living in extreme poverty. 

He said that many of the displaced individuals are scattered between the local Catholic mission in Zémio and the town of Zapaye, across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“In collaboration with our partners, such as Caritas, we are trying to prepare a shipment of food and basic necessities, but the real problem is getting aid to the people. It’s already complicated to get them to Bangassou,” Bishop Gazzera said in a Tuesday, January 13, Agenzia Fides report.

He said that the people have neither food nor other necessities, and the children have no access to education. Among those who fled last November were the 72 students of the Zémio high school, compared to 992 students the previous year.

The Italian-born member of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCD) confirmed that areas affected by the violence are mainly remote and lack basic infrastructure, saying, “The road connecting Bangassou and Zémio is 300 km long, but it takes at least 16 to 17 hours to travel it.” 

“From Bangassou to Zémio, the condition of the road and the insecurity in the area pose various problems for transportation, also because there are well-founded fears that the situation could deteriorate further. There have already been cases in which NGO workers traveling on this road have been attacked,” he said.

The Catholic Bishop emphasized that the area is still dangerous, noting that militia groups not only attack people but also target health facilities.

“The hospital in Mbomou was attacked by militiamen looking for wounded soldiers whom they believed were being treated there,” he said.

Bishop Gazzera said that the ongoing violence in Zémio and surrounding areas, including Mbomou, Haut-Mbomou, and Boki, has persisted for more than 15 years.

He attributed the instability to the presence of multiple armed groups over time, beginning with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan group that settled in the area.

The Catholic Bishop noted that other militia groups had emerged during the 2012 civil war; the Unité pour la Paix en Centrafrique (UPC), a group that split from the Séleka in 2014; and the  Azandé Ani Kpi Gbé (AAKG) militias, which he said rose as a movement to protect the population but ultimately “caused more problems than they intended to solve.”

According to the Coadjutor Bishop of Bangassou, resolving the conflict requires going beyond a military response and addressing the root causes of the local population’s suffering.