The Sahel region refers to an area south of the Sahara Desert which extends across sections of 10 countries, from the far west of Senegal through to the Eritrea in the East. The 2011 revolution in Libya resulted in a sharp increase of violence across this region. Militant and terrorist groups capitalised on weak governments, causing insecurity and danger to the millions of civilians living across this stretch. Outbreaks of violence have been a common occurrence in the northeastern region of Mali since. Approximately 49,000 refugees have left Mali, to seek asylum in neighbouring countries such as Mauritania and Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is home to at least 23,000 Malian refugees fleeing violence in the country. Prolonged insurgence and rising uncertainty in Mali prevents most from confidently returning home.
A family displaced by violence within Burkina Faso finds shelter with relatives in Dori, May 2019. © UNHCR/Romain Desclous
However, widespread violence across the Sahel region has caused a mass displacement of people in the country of Burkina Faso. Since the start of the uprisings since January 2019, some 838,000 have been displaced, a number which has been increasing at an alarming rate with each passing day. In Burkina Faso, attacks on villages have forced a daily average of upwards of 4000 civilians to flee the country. The situation is exponentially expanding, as this number was a 16-fold increase compared to a year earlier. An estimated 150,000 people have fled in the last month. The Malian refugees residing in Burkina Faso are caught between two unstable countries and face the harsh choice whether to stay in Burkina Faso whilst the crisis escalates or return to their home country, where the situation is still incredibly unstable. This lack of security makes decisions much more difficult for Malian refugees who sought sanctuary in Burkina Faso. Many Malian refugees are choosing to return to Mali despite the conflict there, uprooting and undoing the years of the careful reconstruction of their daily lives. Recently there have been incidence of violence closer in proximity to the centers of communities. In some instances, the attacks have been targeted at refugee camps. Following a strike by militants, the Goudoubo refugee camp, home to 9,000 refugees, was forced empty as the inhabitants fled to seek safety. This situation is becoming increasingly common with refugee camps around this area.
Malian refugee women and girls transport water to their shelters in Goudoubou camp, Burkina Faso. The camp currently hosts some 12,000 refugees. UNHCR / HELENE CAUX
A forecast by the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that the number of people with food insecurity in Burkina Faso increase by more than three times to approximately 2.1 million in June. This number is 1.3 million in Mali. Contrasted to the 680,000 people suffering the same time last year, it is clear that the situation is quickly worsening. This is in part to the successive drought and violence around the Sahel region, but also to the restrictions on humanitarian supply chains, implemented in response to the COVID- 19 pandemic. The majority of the global aid suppliers operate from countries that are currently under stringent restriction leading to reduced supply of essential resources. Factories are having to seriously reduce production or in extreme cases, close. The WFP estimates giving aid to 1.5 million people in Burkina Faso and Mali in February 2020, although they predict this number to drop with the COVID-19 restrictions. The WFP is calling this ' a crisis layered on top of a crisis'.
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