Insecurity Drives More Burkinabe To Seek Asylum, Further Disrupting Sahel Region - UNHCR

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2022) The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday that persisting insecurity in the fragile Sahel region of Africa forces more Burkinabe to flee their homes, spurring a humanitarian disarray in neighboring countries.

Sahel, a region adjacent to the North Africa, covering territories of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan, South Sudan, and Eritrea, has been plunged into violent turmoil for years, with several extremist groups impairing stability in the region.

"Around 7,000 Burkinabe have arrived in north-western Cote d'Ivoire since May last year. The influx has accelerated in the past six weeks - though is not seen as linked to the recent military coup in Burkina Faso - with an average of 100 people recently crossing the border daily, according to local authorities," a UNHCR statement said, adding that the agency has registered and aided nearly 4,000 of them.

UNHCR stressed that an increasing number of Burkinabe was displaced in 2021 both internally and externally, with nearly 50% increase compared to the previous year.

"In 2021, some 19,200 Burkinabe fled to neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Benin... More than 34,000 Burkinabe are now in exile across the region," the statement added, pointing out that over 1.5 million people were displaced within the country, hitting the record of internally displaced inhabitants in Africa.

The situation of the Burkinabe refugees is worsening as more people arrive in Cote d'Ivoire without personal belongings or food. Fleeing for fear of the extremists' brutality, they are sheltered by Ivorian villagers in overcrowded conditions, with many families housing up to 30 refugees in small houses.

Crowding degrades sanitary conditions, with an extensive spread of malaria, respiratory infections, and malnutrition, adding to the strain on local health facilities.

UNHCR warned that unless the security environment in Sahel region is stabilizes, with extremist groups quelled, situation with refugees alongside concomitant challenges will deteriorate.

Earlier in the month, UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov called for joint international action to put an end to the decade-long Sahel turbulence, which has forced a total of 2.5 million people to flee their homes.