Mali: Urgent humanitarian help needed as war expands, wide reports of human rights abuses
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR is renewing its appeal for an urgent scaling up of international aid for the hundreds of thousands of people now displaced by the war in Mali. This is to prevent a worsening of the now acutely fragile humanitarian situation across the Sahel.
Since the start of the conflict in northern Mali a year ago, more than 150,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso, while nearly 230,000 have sought safety in other areas inside Mali.
In Bamako, Mali's capital, the number of internally displaced people is now estimated at close to 50,000. They are in poor neighbourhoods with little or no access to housing or vital services such as clean water, education and health.
From people fleeing the current fighting in the north of Mali, we continue hearing worrying accounts of atrocities said to have been committed by the Al-Qaeda-linked rebels.
A former resident of Gao, who left the town after recent air strikes, told us that food and fuel are in short supply. Armed groups have stripped the city hospital of medicines, and at the hospital dead bodies are said to be everywhere. Wounded fighters from these armed groups are being brought into the city, among the fighters many foreigners. The person we spoke to reported seeing a woman being executed summarily for refusing to show the contents of her bag to a fighter as she tried to board a bus. Amputations of hands or feet are used as punishments.
IDP families in Bamako told UNHCR that they had been uprooted by the conflict several times, fleeing ahead of the rebel advance. They lost most or all of their belongings and left relatives behind. Fighters are not preventing people from leaving the areas they control but they check their bags thoroughly and take away any food, money or valuables.
In neighbouring Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger, UNHCR is hearing similar accounts from newly-arrived refugees who we interview to determine protection and assistance needs. Children are reportedly being abducted from their families and made to fight for the rebels. Armed groups are also confiscating private vehicles - one of the reasons why refugees are traveling huge distances on foot or by donkey.
In Burkina Faso, many of the new arrivals are ethnic Tuareg and Arab women and children. They told us they fled for fear of becoming confused with the rebels, who are said to be trying to blend in with the civilian population.
Another reason for leaving northern Mali, according to the refugees, is the presence of bandits and militias from other ethnic groups. Food and other essentials are in short supply, with markets closed and shops empty.
Since 11 January, when the French military intervened to help the Malian army stop an offensive by extremist fighters, over 9,000 new refugees have fled the country and been registered and assisted by UNHCR and our partners in Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso.
According to UNHCR's latest registration figures, in the last 12 days (between 11 and 23 January), 5,486 Malian refugees arrived in Mauritania; 2,302 in Burkina Faso and 1,578 in Niger. They joined the 54,000 refugees in Mauritania, 50,000 in Niger, 38,800 in Burkina Faso and 1,500 in Algeria, who had fled earlier fighting. The latest arrivals bring the total number of Malian refugees in the region to over 150,000.
Some Malians fleeing northern Mali have gone through Niger and Burkina Faso, before reaching Bamako - a three-day journey reportedly costing some 60,000 CFA francs (approximately US$120).
There is consensus among most humanitarian organisations working in Mali that the humanitarian situation in the country was already at crisis point and deteriorating, even before the recent round of fighting.
The countries of the Sahel region have been facing severe drought conditions for years and are among the poorest in the world. UNHCR is appealing for urgently increased assistance for these countries to help them cope with the continuing arrival of thousands of terrorised, traumatised and destitute refugees from the war in Mali, most of them women and children.
UNHCR appealed last year for US$123.7 million for its Mali crisis operations, but has received only about 60 per cent of this amount. The most urgent needs are food, shelter, clean water, sanitation, health and education.
UNHCR Mali media team:
- Spokesperson: (Bamako) - Helene Caux +221 77 333 1291 [email protected]
- Regional Representative: (Bamako/Dakar) - Valentin Tapsoba - +221 77 529 5014
- Spokesperson: (Bamako) - William Spindler +33 623 316 11 78
- In Burkina Faso: Hugo Reichenberger on mobile + 226 66 61 94 94
- In Niger: Charlotte Arnaud on mobile + 227 92 19 19 03
- In Mauritania: Nada Merheb on mobile + 222 33 49 26 26
- In Geneva: Adrian Edwards on mobile +41 79 557 91 20
- Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba on mobile +41 79 249 3483
Related news and stories
Violence and threats by armed groups continue to displace refugees and civilians in Mali
UNHCR urges greater support as violence continues unabated in Burkina Faso
Displaced people from climate frontlines raise their voices at COP27
UN warns of worsening conflict and displacement in Sahel without immediate climate action
Thirty years of hope and higher education for refugees in West Africa
Refugee firefighters honoured for their bravery in protecting Mauritania's environment
Your search for « Mali conflict » matched 1368 results. Only the first 1,000 results are displayed. Displaying page 11 of 112 pages.
-
Malian refugees vote in second round of presidential elections
12 Aug 2013 ... ... In total, some seven million Malians were eligible to vote in both rounds of elections, the first since conflict erupted in Mali in January last year between government forces and various rebel ...... -
Looking Back: UNHCR's Challenges in 2013
30 Jan 2014 ... In 2013, conflict and natural disaster forced people to flee their homes in places like Syria, the Philippines, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and South Sudan. UNHCR was able to help millions ...... -
Opening remarks at the 65th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme. António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, 30 September 2014
30 Sep 2014 ... At the same time, drawn-out emergencies - Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Somalia - and the many more "forgotten" conflicts all over the world, continue to require significant ...... -
Time running out for civilians in Africa's Sahel region as attacks multiply
11 Jun 2020 ... insecurity, the impact of COVID-19 and a lack of adequate resources. Since an initial outbreak in northern Mali in 2011, armed conflict has spread to central Mali, to Niger, to Burkina Faso. ...... -
"Addressing Humanitarian Crises Through Global Solidarity: Is It Possible? Is It Effective?" - Remarks by Mrs. Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco, California, 16 March 1999
17 May 1999 ... On the other hand, the end of some long-standing conflicts - in Mozambique, Liberia, Mali and Guatemala, for example - more recently has allowed millions of refugees to voluntarily return home. The ...... -
High Commissioner's Opening Statement to the 63rd Session of ExCom
1 Oct 2012 ... These include the three powerfully conveyed in the film you have just seen, in Mali, Sudan/South Sudan and Syria, as well as the latest stage in the protracted and complex conflict in the eastern part ...... -
71st meeting of the Standing Committee - Presentation by the Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa
7 Mar 2018 ... ... Insurgency and counter-insurgency in the border areas of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have forced population movements inside Burkina Faso as well as across the border into Mali. The raging conflicts, ...... -
Refugees and hosts work together to build a safe home in Niger
31 Jan 2020 ... ... The 2011 revolution in Libya and a 2012 conflict in Mali during which a coalition of armed groups seized large parts of the country sent tens of thousands of refugees into Niger. The violence spread ...... -
UNHCR asks for $10.8 million for Mali and Niger reintegration programmes
5 Feb 1998 ... Most Malians returned from Mauritania and Burkina Faso, the principal countries of asylum for the estimated 150,000 who fled armed conflict in their country in the early 1990s. Final convoys rolled ......