Mali : Des milliers de déplacés vivent dans la précarité après leur fuite de Kouakourou
For two weeks, thousands of residents from Kouakourou, a central Malian town, have endured dire circumstances after being forcibly displaced. Their exodus began following a stark ultimatum from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaïda-aligned militant group, compelling them to abandon their homes and livelihoods.
The jihadists’ demand for total evacuation came swiftly after they seized control of Kouakourou’s military outpost. An estimated 5,000 individuals embarked on a desperate journey, seeking refuge in nearby communities, including Djenné, Bamako, and Mopti. In Mopti alone, local authorities have opened a school to temporarily accommodate over 400 of these displaced families.
Despite humanitarian food assistance facilitated by donors and the municipal office, the provisional living conditions remain exceptionally challenging. School classrooms have been repurposed into crowded sleeping quarters, with many families resorting to spending nights in the open courtyard due to severe space constraints. Seasonal rains further compound their misery, forcing everyone to huddle indoors, intensifying the already cramped environment.
Beyond the tangible hardships, these families express profound distress over the forced abandonment of their homes and all their worldly possessions. Numerous testimonies reveal that residents fled Kouakourou with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, their mobile phones reportedly seized by the militant groups during their forced departure.
This mass exodus tragically coincides with the critical agricultural season, jeopardizing vital harvests and threatening the long-term livelihoods of countless families. While the prospect of returning to Kouakourou offers a glimmer of hope for these displaced individuals, the prevailing security situation in this part of West Africa currently precludes any immediate return.
