SANGARIS OPERATION

Central African Republic

Central African Republic
2014

In 2014, France deployed 1,200 soldiers in Central African Republic as part of Sangaris Operation, named after a small red butterfly widespread in the country. A semantic lightness contrasting with the terrible civil war which, since President Francois Bozizé was overthrown in March 2013, sees the Rebels of the predominantly Muslim Séléka rebellion fighting against anti-balada Christians —literally “anti-kalashinkov bullets (AK47)”. Among the French soldiers are those of the Foreign Legion. This photoreport takes place in the privacy of their base camp located in the heights of Bambari, during their mission of securing the area and preventing fighting between communities. I was thus granted three weeks in total immersion enabling this photoreport to be realized. Here, I will not explain the Central African conflict, its political or strategic stakes. I focused on the lives of the soldiers, their expectations, their isolation, their fears. This story is that of twenty men of all nationalities who have chosen to fight under the French flag. This is what they saw and felt in Central African Republic.