ZCZC
BFF-31
UN-SAHEL-UNREST-REFUGEE-LEAD
Two million internally displaced by Sahel violence: UN
GENEVA, Jan 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – More than two million people have been
forced to flee their homes within their own countries’ borders owing to
violence engulfing Africa’s Sahel region, the United Nations said on Friday.
The humanitarian response is “dangerously overstretched” in an area
covering parts of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, said UNHCR, the UN
Refugee Agency.
Thousands have died since jihadists launched an insurgency in northern
Mali in 2012 that spilt over its borders.
UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva the “unrelenting
violence” must stop.
He said the figure of two million internally displaced people had more
than quadrupled since the start of 2019.
“The extreme vulnerability of the Sahel has been laid bare by the impact
of forced displacement, caused by widespread and gruesome violence
perpetrated by armed insurgent groups and criminal gangs,” he said.
“The humanitarian response is dangerously overstretched, and UNHCR is
urging the international community to redouble its support for the region.”
He said the countries needed help particularly with schools and hospitals,
many of which have shut because of the violence.
– Lacking basic shelter –
More than half of the displaced in the region are in impoverished Burkina
Faso, which has been under attack since 2015 when Islamists swept in from
neighbouring Mali.
The problems in Burkina Faso have intensified in recent weeks, said
Cheshirkov.
More than 11,000 people, mostly women and children, fled attacks in and
around the northern town of Koumbri earlier this month, he said.
They have reached safety and the UNHCR is erecting shelters and
distributing aid.
“Despite the generosity of their hosts, many of the IDPs lack basic
shelter and are sleeping under open skies,” said Cheshirkov, adding that they
urgently needed essential supplies and facilities to stop Covid-19 from
spreading.
On top of the internally displaced, more than 850,000 people have fled
from Mali and taken shelter in other countries.
Throughout the Sahel, UNHCR and other agencies are working to help hundreds
of thousands of displaced people with shelter, aid and cash, the spokesman
said.
“Our teams are also working to prevent and respond to instances of sexual
violence, which have become widespread,” he added.
BSS/AFP/RY/1910hrs