UN Warns Sudan War May Destabilize Central African Republic After Peacekeeper Killed

The United Nations’ peacekeeping chief issued a stark warning on Thursday about the growing risk of Sudan’s ongoing war spilling over into the Central African Republic (CAR), threatening fragile stability and fueling paramilitary activity in the region.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix cited recent violence in CAR, including a deadly ambush last week in which an armed group attacked a UN peacekeeping patrol, killing a Zambian soldier.

CAR, one of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable nations, shares a volatile northeastern border with Sudan, which has been engulfed in a brutal conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023.

Lacroix described the situation along the border as “fragile,” warning of growing instability driven by Sudan’s civil war. “In the northeast, on the border with Sudan, instability is characterized by the overflow of Sudanese conflict, including incursions by armed groups,” he said.

Refugee Influx and Rising Tensions

The crisis is compounded by a rising number of Sudanese refugees crossing into CAR. A UN report released by Secretary-General António Guterres’s office said that as of June 1, at least 36,642 Sudanese refugees were sheltering in the country.

CAR’s ambassador to the UN, Marius Aristide Hoja Nzessioue, warned the council that the Sudanese conflict is actively undermining CAR’s security and sovereignty. “Armed groups are crossing our borders, recruiting young people and compromising our sovereignty,” he said.

At a Crossroads

Lacroix stressed that CAR is at a “delicate juncture,” with crucial elections on the horizon and tentative progress toward peace. He urged the international community to continue its support. “If these efforts are sustained,” Lacroix said, “the Central African Republic has the potential to become a true success story — not only for Central Africans, but also for Peacekeeping and for this Security Council.”

But the spillover from Sudan’s war poses a direct threat to that fragile progress. Without sustained international engagement and regional coordination, Lacroix warned, the gains made in CAR could unravel under the weight of external conflict and internal instability.