Jean-Claude Ali Syhlas’ Story, Central African Republic
The editor-in-chief of Radio Ndeke Luka hosted three displaced families. Photo by UNHCR/A. Kitidi/2014.
There is a sort of “gymnastics” imposed on civilians whenever there is conflict inside Bangui, as the fighting never spreads over the city at the same time. People leave their neighborhoods due to the combats, for other areas which are calmer. But when the conflict also spreads in these zones, they are obliged to flee again for safer havens. This is what happened after 5 December 2013, displacing many members of my family, friends and acquaintances, as well as journalists from Radio Ndeke Luka, where I am the editor-in-chief.
As I live in a quieter district, I hosted three displaced families in order to provide assistance. Eighteen people stayed in our house which I share with my five children, including my mother and sisters, my aunt’s family, as well as some of her neighbors. We dismantled the beds that were in our house’s three rooms and we placed foam mattress all over the floor. The situation was really uncomfortable and people were separated only by the mosquito nets when they slept. I had to spend a large part of my savings in order to buy food and we ate only one proper meal during the day. But nobody complained. We had the minimum and we did what was necessary in order to survive.
The displaced were stressed and annoyed. They were stressed, due to the disturbing images of the victims that they were watching on TV. They were annoyed, because they abandoned their properties. In calmer neighborhoods like ours, there were bandits starting rumors about imminent attacks, in order to make people flee. Then, they would break into their homes during the night and looted their property.
Every evening, when I came back from work, our “visitors” would immediately ask questions: “What’s new? What did you hear? When will our neighborhood become peaceful again?” The advice that I gave them was not to analyze things so much. “We are here, we are calm and we should remain this way,” I told them. “You only have to wait for the day when you will return home.” Return is the only thing that they wanted. But they cannot do that in neighborhoods where people are still walking around with guns. The main condition to achieve return is disarmament, so that everyone can sleep quietly at night.
