"Mali seems to be a forgotten crisis," said Mohamed Touré, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country, in a statement to the press on Tuesday 24 January.

The UN is indeed alarmed by the situation in the north of the country, where armed groups are sowing "misery" by taking advantage of the "vacuum" left by the withdrawal of French forces in this region deserted by the State.

“Armed terrorist groups are spreading terror”

Following the 2020 military coup, Bamako moved closer to Russia and distanced itself from France, which withdrew its last soldiers from the country in November, ending the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane launched in 2014 in the Sahel.

Consequences, the organization noted that "massive displacements of populations" fleeing the war "have been observed" in the north.

"Since the departure of Barkhane and the European troops, there is a vacuum" in the north, continued Mr. Touré.

"Today, there are no more state authorities in the region. It is therefore left in the hands of armed terrorist groups who spread terror, murders, rapes and sow misery," he said. he added.

Since the end of Barkhane, "there is no longer anyone in the region who is able to protect" the population, and we can be "extremely worried [because] every day we see people fleeing [violence]", he pointed out.

Weariness

Among the recently displaced populations are refugees from other countries, forced to flee the violence again, according to Mr. Touré.

Mali has been in the grip of a serious security crisis since 2012, initially fueled by revolts in the north, which then turned into a violent jihadist rebellion.

Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have had to flee their region, plunged into the doldrums, when the country is already one of the poorest in the world.

However, at a time when the country must be supported more than ever, "there is unfortunately a weariness" of international donors, with "a sharp drop in aid intended for refugees and displaced persons" while "their needs are enormous “, underlined Mr. Touré.

At the end of 2022, Mali had 60,000 refugees on its soil, including 25,000 from Burkina Faso, and 440,000 internally displaced people, he said, calling for a surge of international solidarity to urgently support humanitarian organizations. who help them.

A humanitarian doctor kidnapped 

However, humanitarian workers are not immune to insecurity in Mali.

The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed and condemned on Tuesday the kidnapping, the day before in eastern Mali, of a doctor working for the organization. 

The WHO "deplores the kidnapping of Dr Mahamadou Diawara, who was abducted by unidentified people in his car on January 23, 2023 in the town of Ménaka", indicates a press release from the regional office of the UN organization for the Africa.

"The driver of his car was also assaulted and abandoned by the perpetrators of the kidnapping. He is recovering from the incident", it is specified.

>> To read also on France 24: Ten years of Serval: how France went from the status of hero to that of pariah

With AFP

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