500,000 Burkinabes flee their homes due to violence
The United Nations has said that about 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Burkina Faso due to jihadist violence since January this year.
The global body said many of those who fled their homes were from two regions of Burkina Faso.
Those regions have been hit by ethnic and jihadist violence, increasing more than six-fold since the beginning of the year.
The United Nations and aid groups said on Friday that in a statement health care and education have been crippled by the state of insecurity in Burkina Faso.
These revelations were made at the end of a visit to Burkina by 11 U.N. aid agencies and non-governmental organisations.
“The mission was taken aback by the severity and urgency of the humanitarian crisis,” said Margot van der Velden, the director of emergencies for the U.N. World Food Programme.
The agencies are now calling on donors to help support Burkina Faso which needs $187 million in assistance to support 1.3 million people.
Burkina Faso has in recent months witnessed series of attacks launched by Islamist militants.
There have also been ethnic clashes between herding and farming communities resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and soldiers.
The country’s security has struggled to stop some of these attacks, which is now spilling over to other neighboring West African countries.
Source: Africafeeds.com
