Two Million Internally Displaced By Sahel Violence: UN

Geneva, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jan, 2021 ) :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 siad 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.