Burkina Faso is “the most neglected crisis in the world“, according to the Norwegian Council for Refugees (NCR). The situation in the African country is the result of a combination of multiple factors: political instability, the effects of climate change, terrorism and the lack of state security governance. Il Global Terrorism Indexwhich measures the impact of terrorism for each country in the world, points it to second place just after Afghanistan.
In 2022, the humanitarian needs of the population increased by 40%, and nearly 1 in 4 Burkinabés are in need of humanitarian aid. However, the government’s control over the national territory is limited by the presence of jihadist armed groups, which hinders the activities of humanitarian organizations. For example, Doctors Without Borders has announced the suspension of activities in the country after the killing of two members in February 2023.
The humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso was first overshadowed by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and the recent military coup in neighboring Niger. Furthermore, its media coverage is limited due to the difficulty for foreign journalists and reporters to access war zones.
What’s happening in Burkina Faso?
One of the main elements of the crisis in Burkina Faso is the activity of jihadist Islamist groups, linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, who are guilty of human rights violations and which they actually control about the 40% of the national territory.
The conflict between the government and the jihadists began in 2016 and since then violence has erupted in the country, causing over 16 thousand victims.
Instability and violence have resulted in high numbers of internally displaced persons: al 2022, this year they valued nearly two million out of a population of about twenty-two. The country is also home to around 23,000 refugees from neighboring statesespecially Malians, in refugee camps often exposed to attacks by armed groups.
Entire cities and regions of Burkina Faso are besieged by jihadists, the result of the terror strategy of these groups, who intend to exclude thousands of people from communications with the rest of the country and from access to food and primary services.
Children are particularly exposed to this crisis: i constantly increase almost of children forced to enlist in jihadist militias and, with schools frequently targeted by terrorist attacks – one in four schools is out of order – over 350,000 children are excluded from the education systemo.
The situation in Burkina Faso is related to the framework of political instability that characterizes the Sahel regionplagued by frequent coups, civil wars, ethnic and religious clashes, terrorism and extreme climatic events.
The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and the increase in the cost of agricultural and food goods have been added to the pre-existing crisis factors.
The role of climate change in the crisis
The effects of climate change intersect with the causes and consequences of the political, economic and social instability of the Sahel. In fact, it is the scarcity of water reserves or fertile soils that often trigger internal struggles for control of the few available resources. For example, in Burkina Faso, around one million people are cut off from access to water due to attacks on wells.
The consequences of climate change for Burkina Faso include the deterioration of soil quality, alterations in the rain cycle and therefore in their predictability, desertification and the greater frequency of extreme climatic events. In a country where 80% of the population lives on agriculture and breeding, these events threaten the survival of millions of people.
Food insecurity in the region remains a serious threat, and could worsen as conflicts escalate: in Burkina Faso, already over 2.6 million people are in urgent need assistance feeding.
What will happen?
To stabilize the region and curb the advance of terrorism, France launched, in 2014, theOperation Barkhane, inaugurating a military presence in the Sahel. The apparent failures of the mission led to the withdrawal of French soldiers from Mali and, in early 2023, from Burkina.
The request for French withdrawal came from the Burkinabé military junta, which seized power in September 2022, eight months after a first military coup.
French disengagement and deteriorating diplomatic ties between Paris and its former colonies have raised concern among Western governments that also Burkina Faso, like the Malimay come ever closer to Russia and hire the mercenaries of the Wagner group to face the jihadists.
Moscow would thus fill the void left by Franceacquiring greater influence in West Africa, but the presence of the Wagner group in Burkina Faso would not be immune from costs: as in neighboring Mali, the mercenaries could request mining concessions and access to the country’s primary resources in exchange for the security services provided.
Furthermore, it would not lead to an improvement in the living conditions of the population: the violence committed by the paralimitaries engaged in Mali could also affect the Burkinabeadding to the atrocities committed by jihadists.
The implications are significant: the cooperation offered by Russia, not of a conditional type like that of the West, would make it possible to protect the military junta from requests for democratic opening in the country.
Furthermore, following the coup d’état in Niger in July 2023, members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) could consider a intervention joint military to restore order in the country, which would aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel and especially that of Burkina Faso, where thousands of Nigerien refugees could arrive.
The crisis in Burkina Faso cannot be tackled with a single solution. More mobilization of humanitarian funds is certainly needed: in 2022, only the 42% of the requested financial aid. But we also need environmental programs and to mitigate food insecurity, which expressly take into account the role of women, silent victims of a crisis that impacts them with devastating effects.
Finally, it is necessary for the world to become aware of what is happening in the countryso that the most overlooked crisis of our years gets the attention it urgently needs.
This article, edited by Nicola Caserio, was written in collaboration with Orizzonti Politici and Affari Internazionali, the journal of IAI, as part of the project on humanitarian crises in the world