The head of the United Nations’ humanitarian operations warned the Security Council that there are early signs of genocide in the Central African Republic this week, in his second such warning this month.
Stephen O’Brien, who serves as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told diplomats that violent clashes in the country had pushed it into crisis.
Speaking to AP after the closed-door meeting with the Security Council, Mr O’Brien said "the escalation is very real".
"We're looking at things which we haven't heard about for a long time,” he added. “There's a very deep ethnic cleansing approach."
Earlier this month Mr O’Brien visited CAR and warned that the early “signs of genocide are there.”
"We must act now, not pare down the UN's effort, and pray we don't live to regret it," he said at the time.