Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the roles of (a) Wagner mercenaries, (b) Government forces and (c) rebel forces in (i) human rights abuses and (ii) restrictions on humanitarian access in the Central African Republic.

The ongoing violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to take a distressing toll on the civilian population, compounding an already acute humanitarian situation. In 2021, the UK contributed £21 million to the humanitarian response in the CAR and has stood alongside our allies at the UN in calling for all parties to the conflict to respect human rights and international humanitarian law. I spoke with President Touadéra on 1 November where I commended his call for a unilateral ceasefire and underlined the importance of an inclusive peace-building process.

I have voiced deep concern at the foreign mercenary activity of the Wagner Group in the Central African Republic. In my statement of 29 September 2021 on the Wagner Group, I made clear that they are a driver of conflict and capitalises on instability for their own interests. This is true in CAR as well as elsewhere on the continent. Wagner does not offer long-term security answers in Africa and operates opaquely. The October 2021 report from UN experts found that the Wagner Group had violently harassed and intimidated civilians, including peacekeepers, journalists, aid workers and minorities in CAR and called on the government to end all relationships with the Wagner Group.

The priority in CAR continues to be on ending violence and building security, and the UK continues to work closely with international partners to support efforts to bring stability to the country. The UN Mission in CAR, MINUSCA, will be central to this and the UK contributes approximately £40 million per year in support of their work.