Since May 26, thousands of Burkinabè nationals have been crossing into the central Malian town of Koro, fleeing a surge in violence in their home region. Local authorities estimate the influx at several thousand people.
These displaced individuals have abandoned their villages after receiving threats from jihadist armed groups. Hamsetou, a new arrival in Koro, described the terror that drove her family away: “Two men came on a motorcycle. I think they were messengers. We were terrified.”
Hamsetou reached Koro with her daughter and other relatives after armed groups visited the village of Sia, in the Gomboro department of central Burkina Faso. “They came on our weekly market day and ordered us to leave our village before sunrise. So we fled that very night, hiding in nearby settlements. The next day we took a taxi to Koro,” she recounted.
“We left everything behind”
Hamsetou plans to settle in Koro until calm returns to Sia. But she is not alone – most of the population from Gani, Bouli, Kogan, Ganagoulo and Kouéré have also escaped the violence and sought refuge in Mali. Nearly three-quarters of the refugees are women and children.
Oumou, from Ganagoulo, said that on May 26 she spotted armed men heading toward the neighboring villages of Bouli and Gani. “Then they came to our village and told us we would suffer the same fate. At that moment we decided to flee, leaving everything behind – our homes, our granaries, our animals. Some walked, others used tricycles, carts or bicycles to reach Koro.” Oumou arrived safely with her husband and four children.
Issa Sagara, deputy mayor of Koro, acknowledged the precarious conditions facing the Burkinabè refugees. Accommodation and food supplies are severely strained, and he called for a general mobilization. The refugees are currently spread across several sites in and around the town.
