The UN says it has new allegations of child sex abuse by European troops in the Central African Republic (CAR).<\/p>\n
A number of girls aged between 14 and 16 have alleged they were raped by Georgian members of the EU’s operation Eufor, the UN says.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile a seven-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy said they were abused by French troops.<\/p>\n
The troops were sent to stem violence between Christian militias and largely Muslim rebels.<\/p>\n
The rebels seized power in March 2013 – in response, the militias took up arms against them.<\/p>\n
The abuse is alleged to have taken place near a camp for displaced people near Bangui Airport in 2014 but only came to light in recent weeks during interviews with a UN team.<\/p>\n
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein said he was “extremely alarmed” at the continuing allegations against peacekeeping troops.<\/p>\n
Last December an independent panel criticised the UN’s handling of abuse allegations in the CAR, calling it “seriously flawed” and a “gross institutional failure”.<\/p>\n
It accused senior UN officials of abusing their authority by failing to take action over allegations of abuse by soldiers from France, Equatorial Guinea and Chad.<\/p>\n
France sent 2,000 troops to to its former colony in 2013 and began handing over responsibility to UN peacekeepers last year.<\/p>\n
\n
Keeping the peace in CAR<\/strong><\/p>\n