In 2013, a Muslim rebel group named the Seleka led a coup in the Central African Republic, overthrowing the Christian President Francois Bozize and bringing the country into an ethno-religious civil war. Later that year, VICE News traveled to the CAR to cover the conflict which has left over 5,000 dead and nearly a million displaced.
Due to the combination of the upcoming February presidential election, the withdrawal of French peacekeeping forces, and the total handover to the MINUSCA United Nations troops, the situation in the CAR is extremely fragile. With the conflict entering its third year, questions remain about how to quell the violence, which the UN describes as “The Silent Crisis.”
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VICE News returned to the CAR in 2014 to further document the ongoing conflict and to meet those living through the prevailing chaos.
Producer’s Note: This documentary was filmed in July and August 2014 in the Central African Republic (CAR). An earlier version of the documentary cited statistics regarding internally displaced people (IDPs) in CAR — namely that 100,000 IDPs are living in a camp near the M’Poko International Airport.
According to a January 2015 report by The Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) regarding IDPs in CAR, these figures have become outdated. They have been removed from this version of the documentary. Approximately 20,000 IDPs are currently living in the camp, according to the ACAPS report.
Watch “War in the Central African Republic (Full Length)”
Read “Ugandan Forces Confirm Lord’s Resistance Army Commander Has Surrendered”