2017 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: MAIN INCIDENTSDoctors Without Borders

Nana-
Mambéré
Mambéré-
Kadéï
Sangha-
Mbaéré
Ouham-
Pendé
Ouham
Ombella-
M’Poko
Lobaye
Nana-
Gribizi
Kémo
Bamingui-
Bangoran
Ouaka
Basse-
Kotto
Vakaga
Haute-Kotto
Mbomou
Haut-
Mbomou
Paoua
Carnot
Boguila
Bossangoa
Bangui
Gbaya-Ndombia
Batangafo
Moyen-Sido
Kabo
Kaga-Bandoro
Dekoa
Bambari
Alindao
Bria
Bangassou
Zemio

BRIA7 DECEMBER

An ambulance transporting a patient is held up by armed men.

Dekoa9 JULY

Armed robbery of an MSF convoy on the road between Kaga Bandoro and Dekoa. Shots are fired at the lead vehicle.

KAGA-BANDORO9 JULY

Armed robbery of an MSF convoy on the road between Kaga Bandoro and Dekoa. Shots are fired at the lead vehicle.

Moyen-Sido14 JULY

Armed robbery of two MSF cars on the road to Moyen Sido.

ZEMIO2 JANUARY

Armed robbery in MSF house.

Patients receive only emergency medical services after MSF and the Ministry of Health activities are reduced for several weeks. Children with malaria and people with chronic diseases are left without treatment.

ZEMIO11 JULY

Two armed men enter the hospital compound and open fire. They shoot a baby in her mother’s arms in front of MSF staff.

Four hundred of the 1,600 patients enrolled in MSF’s HIV programme cannot continue their antiretroviral treatment because it is too dangerous to reach the hospital. MSF is forced to evacuate international staff due to the insecurity. MSF Central African staff stay on in Zemio to continue providing healthcare to the population in both the town and the surrounding bush.

ZEMIO28 JULY

Robbery and looting of MSF base.

ZEMIO18 AUGUST

Armed men attack the hospital and open fire on the 7,000 displaced people sheltering there. Eleven people are killed. Soon after, MSF’s medical stocks are looted.

Most of the population of Zemio, including MSF Central African staff, are forced to flee across the river to the Democratic Republic of Congo. HIV patients report that their houses have been burned with medication inside. The only people to stay are those who are too old or weak to run away. Zemio hospital – the only health facility within a radius of 200 km – closes.

ZEMIO12 NOVEMBER

Armed robbery of MSF house and threats to the international team, who have been back in Zemio since 22 October.

Evacuation of all MSF staff and decision to close the project after seven years of MSF presence in Zemio. MSF plans to keep supporting the Ministry of Health by transporting antiretroviral drugs for HIV patients from Bangui to Zemio. Some 10,000 people from the Zemio area are still refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

BANGASSOU24 MAY

Armed men enter the hospital by force and drag a patient and caretaker out of the building. Despite the efforts of MSF staff to prevent them, they kill both patient and caretaker not far from the hospital.

People seeking safety across the river in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the camp for displaced people in Bangassou are too afraid to come to the hospital. Patient numbers fall by 75 percent.

BANGASSOU25 MAY

Armed men enter the hospital by force to search for a patient.

BANGASSOU21 AUGUST

An MSF ambulance bringing a patient to the hospital is held up by armed men for more than three hours.

Medical activities at the hospital are reduced to lifesaving activities and referrals only (mostly obstetric emergencies). Referrals from peripherals health centers were strongly affected.

BANGASSOU20 NOVEMBER

Violent armed robbery at MSF base.

The entire MSF team of 59 people is evacuated to Bangui and all MSF activities are suspended. The 118-bed hospital – the only facility of its kind for the half million inhabitants of Mbomou province – is left with just one medical doctor and three interns. Within the first 24 hours after MSF evacuation, five patients die. Within the next few weeks, two health centres run out of medicines.

BANGUI1 JULY

Looting of an MSF car in front of MSF coordination office.

BANGUI9 SEPTEMBER

At Bangui airport, patients being transferred from other provinces to MSF’s surgical programme in the capital are harassed and MSF staff are threatened.

GBAYA NDOMBIA3 FEBRUARY

Three people wounded by a grenade arrive at MSF’s maternity unit in Gbaya Ndombia. Armed men arrive and threaten the guards before entering the medical facility. They take out one of the wounded patients and attack another; the third manages to hide from them. The armed men prevent ambulances from arriving or leaving the maternity unit for more than an hour.

GBAYA NDOMBIA7 FEBRUARY

Armed men force their way into MSF’s maternity unit for the second time while the medical team is trying to manage an influx of 21 wounded. They threaten the staff and try to kill one of the wounded patients.

MSF activities in Gbaya Ndombia are suspended for several weeks, leaving women in the mainly Muslim PK5 area of Bangui without free maternal healthcare. Deliveries fall from 100 per month to zero.

batangafo20 JANUARY

Robbery and looting of a health post supported by MSF.

batangafo17 MARCH

Robbery and looting of a second health post supported by MSF.

batangafo3 MAY

Armed hold-up of two MSF trucks on the road between Batangafo and Kaga Bandoro by two men armed with AK47s and traditional weapons.

batangafo22 MAY

Robbery in Batangafo hospital.

batangafo29 JULY

MSF base looted and offices of other NGOs robbed.

BATANGAFO25 AUGUST

For two weeks, armed groups surround and enter the hospital, blocking access to patients and visitors. Gunshots are fired near the hospital, endangering patients, health staff and displaced people sheltering there. Following a direct threat to MSF staff, all non-lifesaving activities are suspended, on 25 August.

More than 26,000 children and pregnant women are left without basic healthcare. When the activities restarted, MSF records a dramatic increase in cases of child malnutrition.

BATANGAFO8 SEPTEMBER

Shots are fired at people who have sought refuge in the hospital, killing two children and injuring two others.

Thousands of displaced people sheltering in the hospital flee into the surrounding bush where they have no access to healthcare.

batangafo23 OCTOBER

Armed robbery in Batangafo hospital.

alindao25 JUNE

An MSF team travelling from Alindao to Datoko is threatened at gunpoint and detained. Later they are released.

All MSF activities in Datoko are suspended, leaving children without vaccinations and pregnant women without antenatal care.

Kabo18 FEBRUARY

MSF staff receive threats following their refusal to transfer a patient out of the country for medical treatment.

Kabo15 APRIL

Night-time robbery at MSF base.

Paoua11 MAY

Night-time robbery at Pendé health centre.

timeline

jan

2^nd. Zemio

Arm robbery

20^th. Batangafo

Robbery and looting
feb

3^rd. Gbaya-Ndombia

Attack with grenade

7^th. Gbaya-Ndombia

Maternity unit attacked

18^th. Kabo

Threats
mar

17^th. Batangafo

Robbery and looting
apr

15^th. Kabo

Robbery
may

3^rd. Batangafo

Trucks hold-up

11^th. Paoua

Robbery

22^nd. Batangafo

Hospital robbery

24^th. Bangassou

Patients attacked

25^th. Bangassou

Armed men in hospital
jun

25^th. Alindao

Threaths at gunpoint
jul

1^st. Bangui

Looting of a car

9^th. Dekoa

Convoy attacked

11^th. Zemio

Hospital attacked

14^th. Moyen-Sido

Cars robbed

28^th. Zemio

Robbery and looting

29^th. Batangafo

Base Looted
aug

18^th. Zemio

Hospital Attacked

21^st. Bangassou

Ambulance held up

25^th. Batangafo

Access to hospital blocked
sep

8^th. Batangafo

Hospital attacked

9^th. Bangui

Patients harassed
oct

23^rd. Batangafo

Armed robbery
nov

12^th. Zemio

Armed robbery

20^th. Bangassou

Violent armed robbery
dec

7^th. Bria

Ambulance held up