Aid agencies step up efforts to bring relief to more than 140,000 people forced to flee their homes due to fighting in northern Mali
(Corrects figure in paragraph 6 to 16,000)
DAKAR (AlertNet) - Aid agencies are stepping up efforts to bring relief to more than 140,000 people forced to flee their homes due to fighting in northern Mali but there is concern that thousands more may not be reached because of the insecurity, the United Nations has said.
Fighting erupted in January between government troops and rebels who are seeking an independent home for the nomadic Tuareg people in the north of Mali.
The conflict, which has seen rebels bolstered by fighters and weapons from Libya's conflict launch a wave of attacks on military outposts in three of Mali’s eight provinces, comes as West Africa’s Sahel region grapples with a food crisis that aid agencies say will leave more than 11 million hungry.
Here are some facts and figures about the humanitarian impact of the conflict.
Uprooted people
More than 140,000 people have fled their homes in northern Mali. Between 65,000 and 70,000 are internally displaced persons (IDPs) according to estimates by the Malian government and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Over 70,000 others have fled to neighbouring countries. These include over 30,000 in Mauritania, nearly 20,000 in Burkina Faso, more than 5,000 in Algeria and about 16,000 in Burkina Faso, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said this week.
Aid agencies say it’s hard to give exact figures because people are moving in and out of villages depending on whether there are clashes.
Response
The ICRC and the Malian Red Cross have been helping displaced people in Mali while other aid groups have been assessing the situation to determine what emergency interventions are needed, OCHA said.
"It is much more difficult to assist people in northern Mali because of the fighting," said Remi Durlot, OCHA regional spokesman.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is setting up a camp for about 30,000 people in Mbera in Mauritania. The agency says it has already relocated 5,500 refugees to the site about 50km from the Malian border.
The Belgian arm of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres flew in 26 tonnes of medical and logistical supplies this week to set up a clinic at the Mbera refugee camp. The clinic will allow medical teams to provide consultations, nutritional screening, primary healthcare, prenatal care and vaccinations against infectious diseases like measles, MSF said.
“We are in the middle of the desert in an area where water is a scarce commodity. Even more alarming, these people are isolated here: the nearest hospital is six hours away by road,” said Marie-Christine Férir, MSF’s Emergency Coordinator. “It is crucial that the youngest children, who are particularly fragile, are able to access free medical aid.”
The Red Cross, U.N. agencies and several aid agencies that were already operating in Niger and Burkina Faso have been providing healthcare, water and food assistance to refugees although many still need shelter.
The UNHCR is planning to move the refugees to camps to be set up in locations identified by the Burkinabe and Nigerien authorities in the weeks ahead, a spokeswoman for the agency said.
Appeals
The UNHCR has appealed for $35.6 million for its relief operations in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. The appeal aims to cover the needs of 85,000 uprooted people until 2012.
The ICRC has issued an appeal for $13 million to help about 700,000 people including IDPs, refugees and host communities in Mali and Niger. The aid will include the distribution of food to over 240,000 people, buying livestock to preserve the livelihood of 120,000 nomads, and distributing seeds to increase the productivity of 90,000 farmers.
"People in Mali and Niger are facing a twofold crisis: the food insecurity that has afflicted the entire region, and the fighting in the north of Mali that is driving massive displacement," Boris Michel, the ICRC's head of operations for North and West Africa said.
"What we are striving to achieve is not only to save lives but also to provide support for the people's own resilience."
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