Military branches:
Central African Armed Forces (FACA): Ground Forces, Military Air
Service; General Directorate of Gendarmerie Inspection (DGIG),
Republican Guard, National Police (2006)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary and compulsory military service;
conscript service obligation is two years (2005)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 853,760
females age 18-49: 835,426 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 416,091
females age 18-49: 383,056 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$16.37 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Central African Republic
Disputes - international:
about 30,000 refugees fleeing the 2002 civil conflict in the CAR
still reside in southern Chad; periodic skirmishes over water and
grazing rights among related pastoral populations along the border
with southern Sudan persist
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 19,960 (Sudan) 3,325 (Democratic
Republic of the Congo); note - UNHCR resumed repatriation of
Southern Sudanese refugees in 2006
IDPs: 150,000 (ongoing unrest following coup in 2003) (2006)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Central African Republic is a source and
destination country for children trafficked for domestic servitude,
sexual exploitation, and forced labor in shops and commercial labor
activities; while the majority of child victims are trafficked
within the country, some are also trafficked to and from Cameroon
and Nigeria
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - the Central African Republic failed
to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in
persons during 2005, specifically its inadequate law enforcement
response to trafficking crimes