Malian refugees flee hell of war with Islamists

Armed groups are a common sight in Mali, as drug dealers and smugglers guilty of murder, ethnic cleansing and sexual abuse walk free. Local residents in northern Mali have taken to fleeing towards the Algerian border in search of safety and a livelihood in the Badji Mokhtar Tower border region. Arabstoday managed to get pass the Badji Mokhtar Tower barriers, just 18 kilometres from the border with Mali and 2,600 kilometres away from the country’s capital, Algiers. Walking down the city’s main street, now known as Broad Street, the large numbers of tired, miserable Malians draws your eye. Countless people offered domestic work as slaves or porters in exchange for the relative pittant of 500 dinars a day. Abraham, a 15-year-old Malian teenager who moved into Algeria two months ago, said: “Working conditions here are very difficult. It’s sometimes impossible to find work.” Abraham got a job working as a builder’s apprentice for 500 dinars a day. He took the job and left without hesitation. Many Malian refugees refused to talk to us out of fear, because they entered Algeria illegally and didn’t have the necessary documents. Many live in fear that security forces will arrest them and send them right back to Mali. Hasnaa, a 43-year-old refugee, only agreed to talk to us after we gave her some money. She entered Algeria a year ago, working first as a servant in people’s houses before being exposed to ill-treatment by her employers. Hasnaa took the initiative and opened up a small restaurant where she served Mali’s famous Alminama dish – lamb meat, onion and spices. People responded so well to the new service that Hasnaa was able to earn a reasonable amount of money, which she sends on to her family and children back in Mali. Over 20,000 refugees are still waiting on the border, hoping to be let into Algerian territory, where – even then- they face an uncertain future.