Médecins Sans Frontières - CAR: Exodus of Msulims (ENG)

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB8085

Date taken / Date Recorded 28/02/2014 12:00 AM

Country Central African Republic, Chad

Commissioning section MSF-FRANCE

Photographer / videographer / producer Samantha Maurin

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) Internal Use Only

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★★★ (C)

Video format h264 (Constrained Baseline) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 4m12s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 244.96 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist Central African Republic: Exodus of Muslims
Interviews filmed in Chad late February 2014

COMMENTARY
The majority of Central African refugees in Chad were transported to the border in trucks like these. Hunted down after attacks on their villages and neighbourhoods, trapped in mosques, churches or in transit camps like the one at Bangui airport, these convoys were probably their only chance of survival.

Young refugee from Bossangoa, now in Goré. (man in French)
People started killing Muslims. They don't want Muslims. If you're Muslim, they want to kill you. That's why we came here. Christians can move around freely, but Muslims can't walk even a mile in Bossangoa.

Refugee in Bitoye, former MSF driver (man in French, sub-titles)
00'36 : My whole family has been killed. The anti-balaka killed everyone except my sister and me, and she's escaped to Congo.
My wife, my four children, my mother, my father, my grandfather, my older brother… They killed them.

Woman refugee in Bitoye (woman in French, sub-titles)
00'52 : It's been such a long time, 25 days since we left our home. We ran away and we slept in the bush. They were killing people, they killed women and children, but mainly Muslims.

COMMENTARY
01'08 : This man and his 15-tonne truck managed to transport nearly 200 people from Bozoum to Mini, a village just across the border in Chad.

Homme de Bozoum, à Bitoye, devant son camion. (Français subtitles) MVI 6811
01'28 : We drove through Bocaranga the town was deserted. We found nine children 4 or 5km away from the town. They'd been taken into the bush and left there. We brought them here with us in the truck. They were Fulani children.

Woman breastfeeding malnourished child (Sango, subtitles)
01'45 When the trucks arrived, everyone rushed to get on. There were lots of trucks, they were crammed full. There were so many people that the children couldn't breath. The driver stopped to see what was wrong. We told him the children were crying because of the heat.

COMMENTARY
02'06 : Although most of the convoys were escorted by former Seleka rebels, international forces or the Chadian army, they still got attacked. People had to move fast, there was not even time to take food or drink for the journey.

Man in front of truck in Bitoye, originally from Bozoum (in French, sub-titles)
02'24 : We had nothing to eat between Bouar and Mini. We were hoping to stop in Bong for some food but there was nothing to eat when we got there. It was the same when we got to Bocaranga. There was nobody there either and the town was already in ruins.

COMMENTARY
02'46 : Once they crossed over the border to Chad, several thousand people descended from the trucks in Sido. Some managed to reunite with family while others clung to the unlikely hope of seeing them turn up in another convoy.

Woman breastfeeding her severely malnourished child (Sango)
03'02 : People were still trying to climb on as the truck left. There wasn't enough room for everyone. For 2 or 3 weeks I was in Bangui and my child in Goré.

COMMMENTARY
03'15 : There is no thirst for revenge, no rage, just a palpable air of resignation.
Some refugees think of going back, and others, that there is no going back.

Man in front of truck in Bitoye, originally from Bozoum (sub-titles)
03'25 : Maybe the international community will help the situation to improve… and in which case I'm ready to go back.

Refugee in Bitoye, former MSF driver (man in French)
03'36 : I must stay here, I must change nationality, I must stay here in Chad.
All my family back there are dead. What would I do there? I have to stay here.

COMMENTARY
03'48 : It's been three months now since the first convoys arrived in southern Chad and yet there is still a huge lack of humanitarian aid. The refugees' living conditions are dire and will only get worse with the impending rainy season.