August 25, 2018 - Conflict between Anti-Balaka militias and former Selekas in Bornou, a neighborhood near the city center of Bria, northwestern CAR, sends the population into panic and provokes another wave of displacements. Hundreds of Christian families take cover in the IDP camp and others at the local Baptist church (CEBI C3) fleeing the violence. The city finds itself once again divided into four sections, with Christians and Muslims unable to cross physical fault lines. The story is common for Bria, after all over 50,000 displaced Christians are living in one of CAR’s largest IDP camps. 

The Government's armed forces are unable to access the area and for now, the population relies on MINUSCA for security. The deployment plan of security forces across CAR' national territory is advancing in phases focusing initially on zones that are relatively stable: Bria is no such place. Armed groups (AG) and self-defense militias do not pose a threat to the redeployment of administrative personnel providing social and development services, however they do constitute an obstacle to the deployment of financial, security and justice sector personnel. AG perceive the return of law and order as a threat to their existence and an encroachment on their control of the area. CAR's army is composed of old and new recruits, some remnants of Bozize's army and others, demobilized and integrated rebels. Armed groups see career military personnel as perpetrators of past abuses and newly integrated rebels as traitors.

Following the fighting, CIT mediators were able to step in before this latest movement of population languishes. 

The series of multi-stakeholder dialogues on the violence in Bornou that brought together representatives of displaced families, armed groups, community leaders and MINUSCA contributed to providing enough confidence for over 400 people housed at CEBI C3 to return home [1]. The agreement that was achieved between civilians and armed groups included decisions made by participants on illegal barriers, weapons proliferation and strategies for addressing acts of criminality in Bria.

As the dialogue went on, CIT conducted verification missions to ensure that various confidence building measures discussed were being implemented. On the Ouada axes on the way to Boungou, a mission was organized with the armed groups to witness the removal of 2 illegal barriers near the towns of Ayorokpo (Pk13) and Ngoungoua (Pk19), removing also symbols of war along the way.

On November 1st, as stipulated in the agreement, armed groups turned into local authorities 2 militias accused of murder and disarmed 3 militias carrying weapons in the city.

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[1] Statistics compiled by Coopi on population movements in Bria show that on 9/21 CEBI C3, where civilians sought refuge after the 8/25 fighting in Bornou, included 1610 residents and on 10/22 CEBI C3 had 1176 residents, a decrease of 434 people. Coopi's statistics also show that on 9/21 Bornou 1 and 2 had 11,133 residents and 14,235 residents on 10/22, demonstrating that 3,102 people returned home between those two dates. The increase in Bornou can be attributed to residents returning from CEBI C3 and the IDP camp located in Pk3. CIT conducted dialogues on the return of displaced populations back to Bornou on 9/21, 9/27 and 10/25 with an initial agreement implementation verification visit on 10/08.