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More aid needed for Mali's hidden emergency, urge Guterres and U.S.
News Stories, 2 August 2012
? UNHCR/H.Caux
UNHCR chief Ant?nio Guterres visits Malian refugees in Damba camp, Burkina Faso together with Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the United States Department of State.
DAMBA CAMP, Burkina Faso, August 2 (UNHCR) ? UNHCR High Commissioner Ant?nio Guterres has called for countries to increase their support to the severely-underfunded Malian refugee operation in a region that can barely feed its own people.
The High Commissioner made the appeal during his three-day visit to Burkina Faso, which hosts 107,000 Malian refugees, the highest number in the region. On Wednesday he travelled to Damba camp in northern Burkina Faso with Anne C. Richard, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BRPM) in United States, to attract attention to one of the world's most hidden humanitarian and refugee emergencies.
More a quarter of a million people have fled Mali in the last six months as fighting erupted between government forces, Tuareg rebels and various armed groups. In addition to the refugees in Burkina Faso, there are also 96,000 in Mauritania and 53,000 in Niger. Another 174,000 are internally displaced within Mali.
"We have now 257,000 refugees from Mali who are going through an enormous level of suffering and deprivation," said Guterres in Damba camp, home to some 1,200 Malian refugees. "They had to cross the borders of very poor countries that have very dramatic food security problems: Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. They found a fantastic generosity in their host countries that are sharing everything they have with them, but they did not find until now the attention of the international community. We, the aid agencies, are struggling to provide them with basic needs in water, food, sanitation and health."
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News Stories, 2 August 2012
? UNHCR/H.CauxUNHCR chief Ant?nio Guterres visits Malian refugees in Damba camp, Burkina Faso together with Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the United States Department of State.
DAMBA CAMP, Burkina Faso, August 2 (UNHCR) ? UNHCR High Commissioner Ant?nio Guterres has called for countries to increase their support to the severely-underfunded Malian refugee operation in a region that can barely feed its own people.
The High Commissioner made the appeal during his three-day visit to Burkina Faso, which hosts 107,000 Malian refugees, the highest number in the region. On Wednesday he travelled to Damba camp in northern Burkina Faso with Anne C. Richard, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BRPM) in United States, to attract attention to one of the world's most hidden humanitarian and refugee emergencies.
More a quarter of a million people have fled Mali in the last six months as fighting erupted between government forces, Tuareg rebels and various armed groups. In addition to the refugees in Burkina Faso, there are also 96,000 in Mauritania and 53,000 in Niger. Another 174,000 are internally displaced within Mali.
"We have now 257,000 refugees from Mali who are going through an enormous level of suffering and deprivation," said Guterres in Damba camp, home to some 1,200 Malian refugees. "They had to cross the borders of very poor countries that have very dramatic food security problems: Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. They found a fantastic generosity in their host countries that are sharing everything they have with them, but they did not find until now the attention of the international community. We, the aid agencies, are struggling to provide them with basic needs in water, food, sanitation and health."
More...
