DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The exodus of tens of thousands of Muslims from Central African Republic amounts to “ethnic cleansing,” Amnesty International said Wednesday, warning that the sectarian bloodshed now underway despite the presence of thousands of peacekeepers is a “tragedy of historic proportions.”

Their report comes as the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed fears that the violence ravaging Central African Republic could ultimately divide the country in two.