Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is particularly poignant for me to be discussing this issue on the same day that the world celebrates the life of one of the most influential and courageous figures in our lifetime, Nelson Mandela. As someone who played such a pivotal role in the anti-apartheid regime in South Africa and whose name has become synonymous with peace and friendship and democracy, it would have deeply saddened him to hear of the atrocities being inflicted upon the citizens of the Central African Republic. Today, all the eyes of the world are fixed on the African continent. The Central African Republic is a nation of 4.5 million people, not unlike our own. It is bigger than France and in the heart of Africa. It has been gripped by violence since Muslim Séléka rebels, many of whom are fighters from neighbouring Sudan and Chad, seized power in the country in March this year. One tenth of the population has fled the sectarian violence since the Séléka rebel coalition seized power. It has developed rapidly into religious warfare, including targeted attacks on defenceless civilians, summary executions and mass displacement of communities.

The Central African Republic has experienced decades of coups and rebellions which have kept this mineral and diamond-rich country locked in a time warp since its independence from France in the early 1960s. Despite being rich in natural resources it remains one of the world's least developed economies. It also remains highly dependent on foreign aid, NGOs and the presence of peacekeepers and refugee camps. The need for further peacekeeping missions has become all the more immediate in the light of the recent violence that has erupted between the Muslims and Christians which has contributed to the deaths of more than 400 civilians in the past two days. It has been a tit-for-tat killing spree. I read an account of a 13-year-old boy who was brought onto the street in front of the house of a Christian fighter and shot dead by Muslim militia. This was done purely out of frustration since the rebel fighter was unable to fight the person he was looking for.

The scale of the current conflict is unprecedented. This month, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, ordered his officials to start preparing for the likely deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission. However, African leaders would prefer to give the African Union force time to stabilise the situation. Following the killing of French troops last night and given the scale of the killings that have occurred in recent weeks I believe the time waiting is over. The need for humanitarian aid has magnified in recent days. Will the Minister of State outline what the United Nations proposes to do in light of this conflict, before it is descends into warfare of genocidal proportions, reminiscent of the worst days of the Rwandan conflict and genocide?

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