Mali's coup risks increasing displacement in the country and complicating efforts to respond to a looming food crisis
DAKAR (AlertNet) – A military coup in Mali has threatened to increase displacement in the country and complicate efforts to respond to a looming food crisis, aid agencies have warned.
The U.N. refugee agency said it was already reviewing its plans in case people started fleeing into neighbouring countries.
Wednesday's overnight coup was staged by soldiers angered by what they saw as President Amadou Toumani Toure's poor handling of a northern rebellion.
At least 206,000 people have already been uprooted from their homes in Mali since January when Tuareg-led rebels launched a bid to create an independent state in the north of the country. More than 113,000 of these displaced people have fled to neighbouring countries.
“We are revising our contingency plans to allow us to respond to possible new influxes in surrounding countries,” the UNHCR said in a statement on Friday.
Life in Mali's capital Bamako slowly returned to normal on Sunday after most mutinous soldiers returned to their barracks.
Bread and fuel ran low in the city last week as soldiers looted petrol stations and shops and hijacked cars, residents said, while coup leaders sought to consolidate their grip on power.
Residents in Bamako said on Friday that fuel prices had doubled to over 1,300 CFA francs ($2.60) a litre in about 24 hours.
Mali is one of the countries likely to be worst hit by an unfolding food crisis across West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel region.
An estimated 3.5 million people face food shortages in Mali after droughts led to poor harvests. Aid agencies fear the instability and the lack of a clear administration could affect their ability to respond to the crisis.
“The food situation was already desperate with the price of staple foods having already risen by 100 percent over the last few months - this military coup will only add to the plight of hungry communities,” said Yacouba Kone, Mali country manager for aid agency Christian Aid.
Despite the instability, the medical charity Medecins du Monde said it would continue with its activities in the north of the country where more than 93,000 displaced people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
“Populations are having a very hard time in the north … we see elderly people, pregnant women, young kids, living in the open air, with meagre assistance,” added Olivier Vandecasteele, head of MdM operations in Mali.
MdM is one of the few humanitarian groups with access to north Mali where it is providing healthcare services at the biggest camp for displaced people at Inhamzil.
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