Horrors of Malian war
2013-01-22 09:33
Goudebou Camp - For the many Malians who have fled to
Burkina Faso in recent days, facing life in a refugee camp won out over the
horrors of war, after already suffering through occupation by hardline Islamist
rebels.
Ismael Ag Cherif and his wives and children are among the 5 000
Malian refugees who have sought shelter at the sprawling Goudebou refugee camp
in northern Burkina Faso.
They arrived last week after a 32-hour journey from their
home in Dore, a town located some 80km southeast of the city of Gao in
rebel-held Malian territory.
"We lived in hell with sharia imposed on us by the
Islamists," the blue-turbanned father said, speaking in Tamashek, the
language of the nomadic Tuareg people.
Islamist militants and Tuareg separatists seized Mali's vast
desert north in March last year. The two sides then had a falling-out and the
Islamists gained the upper hand, imposing their harsh version of sharia, or
Islamic law, on the territory under their control.
When the French military began bombing raids to halt the
rebels' advance into the government-controlled south, "the fire"
threatened to fall "on our heads", Ag Cherif told AFP.
"This second hell... had to be avoided at all
costs," he said of his decision to leave Mali, as he stood amid rows of
white tents emblazoned with the blue logo of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR -- a
rare speck of colour in the surrounding barren, brown landscape.
Iyad Ag Hadega, 40, arrived at the camp on Friday after
fleeing the village of Intillit, about 120km southeast of Gao, where he said
Islamists from the Mujao rebel group (the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in
West Africa) "were blending in with residents to avoid being
attacked".
"They recruit the young," he added, while fellow
camp resident Ansarahoui Ag Albacher said he was lucky to have saved his son
and young nephew from "forced recruitment" by the Islamist fighters.
Bousse Wallet Houssa, mother to a three-year-old girl, was
anxiously waiting for news from her husband, who was travelling with his herd.
Potential reprisals
"I'm afraid the Mujao people will intercept him along
the way, take his animals and force him to join their group," said the
young woman, wearing the camp's plastic bracelet for newcomers who haven't been
officially registered yet.
While many at the camp said they hoped for a speedy
"liberation" of northern Mali, many of the new refugees said they
worried about abuses by the Malian army as it pushed north with the backing of
French troops.
Such potential reprisals could especially be aimed at
lighter-skinned residents, such as the Tuareg or Arabs, some of whom joined
with the Islamists, they said.
"Under the cover of the army, everyone will want to
deliver justice during the liberation," said Ag Cherif.
Over the weekend, a dozen trucks escorted by heavily armed
Burkina Faso police transported refugees to Goudebou who had previously taken
refuge at another camp just over the border from Mali.
"We are relocating 580 refugees who were stationed at
Ferrerio and bringing them here because it's safer," said Guillaume
Coulibaly, manager of the newly established Goudebou, some 300km from
the volatile border.
Goudebou has already taken in around 300 new arrivals since
the French offensive began on 11 January. The UN estimates there are currently
some 38 000 Malian refugees in impoverished Burkina Faso overall.
At least 147 000 Malians have sought shelter in neighbouring
countries since the crisis began last year.
The UN said last week that if the fighting continues in the
next few months, up to 400 000 more people could flee the strife-torn country,
while hundreds of thousands of others could be internally displaced.
"We are preparing for a massive influx of
refugees," said Coulibaly.
- SAPA
