UNHCR calls for more aid to help Mali refugees

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to increase its support for refugees escaping violence in Mali. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) website, 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. “We have now 257,000 refugees from Mali who are going through an enormous level of suffering and deprivation,” said Guterres. “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,” he added. 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, the UNHCR reported. Half a year into the Malian conflict, the UNHCR is still struggling with a severe lack of funding. Despite a recent USD10 million donation from the United States and contributions from other donors, the refugee agency has only received USD49.9 million out of the USD153 million needed to help Malian refugees and the internally displaced, the website indicated.