“Mali is one of several countries offering a safe haven to the more than 1,1 million refugees and asylum seekers who have crossed international borders to escape war, persecution and other widespread and life-threatening dangers in the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa”, declared UNHCR in a press release.

UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner for Protection, Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, was on a week-long visit to Mali and Togo last week. After the visit, she said:

“Mali’s generous approach towards refugees, keeping its borders open and offering them, once registered, the same rights as Malians, including access to services such as healthcare and education”

However, Menikdiwela warned that this humanitarian aid could be scarce if there is no immediate and sustained international support. He also said that Mali and other countries in the African Sahel region are under “alarming” pressure due to forced displacement and need immediate and additional support to avoid an even more serious humanitarian crisis.

“The risks in Mali and neighboring countries, many of which are now facing their own displacement crises, are alarming,” he said.

Mali currently hosts around 66.793 refugees, while grappling with the urgent needs of more than 354.000 internally displaced people, according to UNHCR data.

The refugees it hosts, mainly from Burkina Faso and Niger, include a significant influx of 40.000 from Burkina Faso in the last three months alone, fleeing turmoil and instability in their country.

The Sahel faces “tremendous challenges”, such as multiple conflicts, price inflation, shortages of humanitarian aid and the effects of climate change, said the United Nations agency.

“In total, around 4,8 million people in the Sahel were recently forced to flee their homes to seek safety elsewhere,” he said.

In 2024, UNHCR needs $331,4 million (around €306 million) to maintain support for its operations in the central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) and to meet the urgent needs of forcibly displaced populations . However, at the end of February there was only 16% funding, which threatens the continuity of vital services.

The coups d'état in Mali (May 24, 2021), Niger (July 26, 2023), Burkina Faso (August 06, 2023) overthrew democratically elected governments and brought military junta to power.