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UNHCR watching Mali situation, High Commissioner Guterres to visit Mauritania

Briefing notes

UNHCR watching Mali situation, High Commissioner Guterres to visit Mauritania

23 March 2012 Also available in:

UNHCR is monitoring developments in Mali following the announcement that army soldiers had taken control of the country. Thus far we are not seeing new population movement either inside the country or to neighbouring countries, but we continue to follow the situation closely.

A concern for UNHCR is the potential for continued political uncertainty to create further population movements at a time when there is already considerable displacement inside and beyond Mali's borders. We are revising our contingency plans to allow us to respond to possible new influxes in surrounding countries.

Thousands of people have fled Mali since mid-January, following fighting between a rebel movement and Malian forces in the north of the country. Inside Mali, displaced people are living in difficult conditions in villages and temporary sites and dependant on the generosity of host communities.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, will be visiting Mauritania over the next days to attend a ceremony marking the end of the voluntary repatriation from Senegal to Mauritania, and to recognise the efforts that have been undertaken to support the asylum process over the years. He will also assess the situation in connection with the influx of persons affected by the conflict in Mali.

For further information on this topic, please contact:

  • In Dakar (Regional): Helene Caux on mobile +221 77 333 12 91
  • In Geneva: Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba on mobile +41 79 249 3483
  • Sybella Wilkes on mobile +41 79 557 9138
  • Adrian Edwards on mobile +41 79 557 91 20
  • Firas Kayal on mobile +41 79 881 91 60