As of 30 September 2022, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is up by nearly 12% compared to the situation after the clean-up at the end of April, which was 1,520,012 IDPs, according to official data, consulted by APAnews.
The abuses of non-state armed groups are constantly increasing the number of displaced people in Burkina Faso.
As of 30 September 2022, the country recorded 1,719,332 internally displaced persons, according to the Permanent Secretary of the National Council for Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (SP/CONASUR).
Between 30 April and 30 September 2022, an additional 199,320 IDPs were registered. As a result, the number of IDPs increased from 1,520,012 to 1,719,332.
Children and women constitute the largest groups of displaced persons, 60.40% and 22.89% respectively.
The displaced come mainly from the province of Soum (Sahel) with 502,299 people, Sanmatenga (Centre-North) with 297,878 people and Gourma (East) with 154,942 people.
The provinces of Sanmatenga (Kaya), Soum (Djibo) and Yatenga (Ouahigouya) are home to the largest numbers of displaced people. These are 375,995, 336,127 and 170,177 IDPs respectively.
Food is the first priority need of the displaced (77.78%), while security comes in fifth place.
The country is experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, according to several NGOs and civil society organisations.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been experiencing a security crisis linked to the activity of jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda or the Islamic State. Moreover, one of these organisations, namely the Groupe de Soutien à l’Islam et aux musulmans (GSIM), attacked a supply convoy bound for the town of Djibo on 26 September, killing 37 people, including 27 soldiers and 10 civilians.
The jihadist group claimed in a statement broadcast through its official channels to have carried out “an economic coup that provoked a coup d’état”, in reference to the putsch of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, which took place on Friday 30 September against Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was behind the ousting of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré last January.
DS/ac/lb/abj/APA