Armed groups creating ‘misery’ in Mali: UN representative

Armed groups in northern Mali are creating misery in the vacuum left by French troops’ withdrawal, with the protracted crisis causing international “fatigue”, the UN refugee agency’s representative in the country said Tuesday.

On the heels of a military coup in 2020 that saw the troubled west African state bring in Russian paramilitaries, France withdrew the last of its soldiers in November, ending its long-running Barkhane anti-jihadist operation.

“Since the departure of Barkhane and European troops, there is a vacuum,” Mohamed Toure told reporters in Geneva, via video link from Mali, following a mission to the north to meet freshly displaced people.

“We don’t have any state authorities in that region, so it’s really left in the hands of terrorist armed groups which are spreading terror, killings, rapes, creating misery.

“Mass displacement has been noticed,” including refugees from other countries forced to move again, he added.

“We can be very, very concerned about the fact that we are seeing every day people fleeing the theatre of conflict.”

Mali has been in the throes of a nearly 11-year security crisis triggered by a regional revolt in the north that developed into a full-blown jihadist insurgency.

Thousands have died, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and devastating economic damage has been inflicted on one of the world’s poorest countries.

Toure said the situation was becoming a forgotten crisis, with the world seemingly suffering from “Mali fatigue”.

“We are really seeing a diminishing, drastically, of the assistance provided to internally displaced people and refugees.”

At the end of 2022, Mali hosted more than 60,000 refugees, including 25,000 from Burkina Faso, said Toure. Meanwhile, some 440,000 Malians remain internally displaced due to continued violence and threats from armed groups.

“The needs of the displaced remain enormous,” he said.

Toure appealed for greater international solidarity for the displaced, through urgent financial support for humanitarian organisations.

Several countries have accused Mali’s ruling junta of using the services of the pro-Kremlin Wagner mercenary group, which Bamako denies.

Toure said some people fleeing the conflict zones were reporting seeing “foreign troops involved” in attacks but he was not in a position to determine what their affiliation was.