Africa: A Decade of War in Sahel region

UNHCR says domestic displacement has increased tenfold since 2013, from 217,000 to 1.2 million by the end of last year. Last year alone, an increase in violent attacks across the Sahel displaced nearly 500,000 people.

UNHCR called for coordinated international action to end the armed conflict in the Central African region, which has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes over the past decade.

According to UN estimates, armed groups have carried out more than 800 deadly attacks in 2021. The violence has killed 450,000 people and displaced 360,000 in neighboring countries.

The number of refugees in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has now reached 410,000, and the majority come from Mali, where civil strife began in 2012 and led to a failed coup and insurgency by extremist groups.

In Burkina Faso, the total number of IDPs has increased to more than 1.5 million by the end of 2021. According to statistics, out of every ten displaced people in Sahel, six are from Mali.

In Niger, the number of IDPs in the Tilabri and Tahoe areas has increased by 53% in the last 12 months. In Mali, more than 400,000 people have been displaced domestically, a 30 percent increase over last year.

Insecurity combined with extreme poverty and the COVID-19 epidemic have exacerbated the situation. On the other hand, the effects of the climate crisis in this region are strongly felt and the temperature rises 1.5 times faster than the global average.

Women and children often are disproportionately exposed to severe injuries, threats and violence.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it needs $ 307 million this year to operate effectively in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.

 

_{Source and Credit: UNHCR, OCHA}