Luanda - Angola this Wednesday expressed concern about the regional dimension of the crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the cross-border flow of combatants, weapons and natural resources, which is why it warned of "the risk of regionalization of the conflict".
In an intervention at the informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s Sanctions Committee for the Central African Republic , Angola's permanent representative to the UN in New York, ambassador Maria de Jesus Ferreira, considered the current situation a fundamental aspect of the crisis in that country.
She announced that the Heads of State of Angola, João Lourenço, and Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, as acting presidents of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) respectively, requested a meeting of the UNSC to discuss the situation in the CAR and the consequences for the region as a whole.
"We strongly condemn all the strategies used by the armed groups to consolidate control of gold mining activities, through an illegal parallel administration that collects taxes from all operators in this sector," she said.
According to the Angolan diplomat, such resources can certainly be used, as a means of financing armed groups, in the acquisition of weapons, other military equipment and in the recruitment of soldiers, including mercenaries.
She noted that the mini-summit of the Heads of State and Government of the ICGLR on the political and security situation in CAR, held on 29 January in Luanda, concluded that the rebel forces have acquired increasingly sophisticated weapons and other means, to take action against the people and the legitimate authorities of that country.
“In addition, it has been noted that the legal authorities of the Central African Republic find it difficult to assume their legitimate mission of security and civil protection, due to obligations under the decisions of the UN Security Council, taken in accordance with Resolution 2536 (2020 ) on the arms embargo imposed on the CAR,” she said.
Therefore, Angola defends the total lifting of the embargo, since the CAR government is the biggest victim, while armed rebel groups continue to have access to weapons through cross-border trafficking that threatens the country's integrity, according to Maria de Jesus Ferreira.
She also stressed that Angola supports and encourages all cooperation efforts, including cross-border with other states, sub-regional and regional organizations, to combat the illicit flow of arms and ammunition to the CAR.
Angola participated as a guest in this informal meeting of the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council for the Central African Republic (CAR), established by resolution 2127 (of 2013).
The meeting served for the participants to comment on the provisional report of this Committee's Panel of Experts, on the latest events in CAR, submitted to the UN Security Council on January 27th.
