Gendarmes seek training on international law

Gendarmes in the Central African Republic have recommended the incorporation of a course on international law in their training and the provision of documents on the topic in all gendarmerie stations across the country. The gendarmes made the recommendation on Tuesday at the end of a two-day training seminar organised for them in the capital, Bangui, by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "After this seminar the difference between ordinary immigrants who come here in search of wealth and refugees became clearer," Elysee Nouzoukem, a warrant officer who was among the 60 gendarmers at the seminar, said. He is based at the gendarmerie station of Berberati, 186 km west of Bangui. Most refugees entering the country from Cameroon and the Republic of Congo arrive in Bangui via Berberati. A UNHCR protection officer, Mamadou Diane, conducted the training on refugee basic rights and obligations as well as the mandate of the UN agency in charge of refugees. The gendarmes were drawn from across the country. "As law enforcement forces, you have the duty to welcome and protect refugees," Jean Claude Matongo, a UNHCR security officer, told the participants, who included 10 women. He said that the UN agency was planning similar seminars for most of the country's 1,312 gendarmes. UNHCR conducted three similar seminars in October for policemen as well as state and private communicators. The seminars, aimed at arming the participants with international instruments governing refugees, were motivated by problems refugees faced in September following newspapers reports that some of them were being recruited as mercenaries. The reports prompted the police and gendarmerie to crack down on refugees from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Matongo said that the first obligation of any refugee was the respect of the host country’s laws. In case of violations, he said, "better contact the UNHCR or any of its partners such as COOPI [Cooperazione Internazionale], MSF [Medicos Sin Fronteras] or Caritas [Roman Catholic charity]". Speaking during the closing ceremony on behalf of Social Affairs Minister Lea Doumta, the secretary-general at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Antoine Mbaga, said that the trained gendarmes had the obligation to reinforce the country's reputation as a "nation of legendary hospitality", which would contribute to the restoration of confidence from the international community. The country currently hosts at least 50,000 refugees among whom 37,000 are from Sudan and 7,000 from the DRC. Others are from Angola, Burundi, Libera and Uganda.