Two million people have been internally displaced in the Sahel region of Africa, in particular plagued by jihadist violence, a level never reached, the UN said on Friday.
In a statement Friday, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) calls for an end to the "relentless violence" in the Sahel, "which has displaced more than two million people within their country's borders for the whole time. first time".
Internal displacement in the region - which includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger - "has quadrupled in just two years", as the number of internally displaced stood at 490,000 at the start of 2019. More than half of the internally displaced people in the region are Burkinabés.
Already 21,000 people on the run since early January
Since the start of the year alone, violence in Niger and Burkina Faso has forced more than 21,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge in their own countries, according to UNHCR.
And in Burkina Faso, since December 31, a series of armed attacks against the town of Koumbri and neighboring villages in the north of the country have displaced more than 11,000 people.
Most of them are women and children who fled at night after the attackers started shooting at their homes.
The displaced people have reached safe places.
They are now welcomed into local communities in Ouahigouya and Barga, about 35 kilometers away.
Despite the generosity of their hosts, many internally displaced people do not even have basic shelter and sleep in the open air, in urgent need of shelter, relief items, health care and facilities. appropriate sanitary facilities, the statement said.
UNHCR is building 108 hard shelters in Ouahigouya and distributing mattresses and blankets, hygiene products and other basic necessities.
Local authorities are speeding up efforts to register new arrivals and relocate them to another site.
The Sahel also hosts more than 850,000 refugees, mainly from Mali.
Jihadist attacks, criminal gangs, community clashes, the Sahel is caught in a spiral of violence that has claimed thousands of lives since 2012.
"Breaking point"
According to the UN, the needs of the population are increasing in this region where multiple crises converge, in particular armed conflict, extreme poverty, food insecurity, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Sahel is home to some of the least developed countries in the world, and communities hosting displaced people "have reached a breaking point," according to UNHCR.
And while the needs of the population increase, the humanitarian response is "dangerously overwhelmed", warned the UNHCR which urges the international community to redouble its support for the region.
The UN agency calls on States to "act now to help Sahel countries fight against the root causes of this forced displacement, to stimulate strategic and sustainable development as well as to strengthen institutions such as schools and hospitals, many of which have closed due to continued violence. "
Across the region, UNHCR and partners are rehabilitating schools, supporting distance learning facilities and providing life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
They also work to prevent and respond to cases of sexual violence, "which have become widespread."