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The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) points to ongoing movements, particularly in the Gao region, and “ calls for increased support for recently displaced people ” in the country.
More than 3,700 people have fled N’tililt to safety in Gao, northern Mali. The UNHCR specifies in its press release published on Tuesday January 24 that it is a question of both Malians and Burkinabè, who have arrived in successive waves since 2018.
But the insecurity is no less on this side of the border: according to local and international sources contacted by RFI, at the beginning of the month, the Sahelian branch of the Islamic State group issued an ultimatum to the inhabitants of N’tililt, demanding their departure. Threats that are part of the violent offensive led for nearly a year by this group to take control of areas hitherto dominated by their rivals from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (the Jnim, its acronym Arabic), linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
« The remaining population fears reprisals “, specifies the UNHCR, which adds that the displaced, in majority women and children, “ currently live under trees or in makeshift shelters with little food or water ».
According to Malian and UN security sources, the Timbuktu region is also experiencing new population displacements. This time, it is the threats of the Jnim which have forced the inhabitants of Acharane for several days to flee their village to take refuge in Timbuktu. About ten days ago, residents of the circle of Niono, in central Mali, fled to Mauritania. They wanted to escape the violence of the Malian army and its Russian auxiliaries after an operation carried out in Bokal near Nampala during which new allegations of abuse were reported.
To date, Mali has more than 60,000 refugees from neighboring countries, and more than 440,000 internally displaced people, according to UNHCR figures. This is 100,000 more than two years ago, an increase of more than 25%. In January 2021, the UNHCR recorded 346,864 internally displaced people in Mali.