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France says plans to end operations in CAR after UN report

Sunday, 31 January 2016 2:20 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 31 January 2016 2:21 PM ]

This file photo shows a French Sangaris legionnaire standing guard during a patrol in Sibut north of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. (AFP)

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says Paris wants to end its military operation in the Central African Republic (CAR) later this year after the UN issued a statement detailing the French troops' sexual abuse of children in the African country.

"The aim is to bring Operation Sangaris to a halt. I hope this is done during 2016, with small units remaining on Central African territory as was the case beforehand," Le Drian said on Sunday.

This came after the UN said in a statement on Friday that peacekeepers from Georgia, France and another unnamed European country sexually abused, even raped, children mostly in 2014 in the CAR.

The UN staff said they interviewed a girl and a boy who were aged 7 and 9 respectively when they were allegedly abused in 2014 by French "Sangari" troops.

The girl said she had been abused by French soldiers "in exchange for a bottle of water and a sachet of cookies."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein described the acts of abuse as “extremely serious” and called for an urgent investigation into the cases.

The French minister also expressed hope that the EU defense ministers agree to train a CAR armed force during a meeting in Amsterdam in early February.

The CAR has been hit by turmoil since 2013, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group that had toppled the government in March that year.

In December 2013, France deployed military forces to the CAR, a former French colony, after the UN Security Council gave the go-ahead to sending troops to the country.

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