Atrocities in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso means “land of honest men.” This country is a small, very poor, landlocked country in Western Africa, home to over 20 million people. During decolonization from the French,it gained its independence in 1960.

Years of political instability caused the ending of a 27-year regime in 2014. Since then, the country has suffered recurrent attacks, including on schools, by armed groups. As the situation aggravates, some 900,000 people have become internally displaced. Burkina Faso also faces challenges in infant mortality, malnutrition, education, employment, food security and limited natural resources.

Over 2.2 million civilians are in need of humanitarian assistance. Around half of them are children.

According to witnesses, auxiliary forces of the government of Burkina Faso killed dozens of civilians, many of which were ethnically Fulani residents of Sectors 4 and 6 of Nouna, in Kossi province. This took place on the morning of the 30th of December 2022, shortly after an attack by Islam militants on a local gendarmerie station and a base used by Dossos (a government proxy force). Local members of Dossos Hunter’s brotherhood went house to house shooting people. Consequently, on the 2nd of January, an investigation was open into the killings of 28 civilians. However, survivors state the death toll is higher as of the 31st of December and the days following it, multiple corpses were found.

Since 2016, Burkina Faso has struggled with Islamist insurgency. This conflict has caused thousands of civilians to die and forced almost 2 million Burkinabè to be displaced. Fulani communities are often blamed by others for being sympathetic to Islamic insurgent groups. Therefore, the large amounts of Fulani casualties in the killings of the 30th of December are likely to be a response of the Fulani involvement with Islamic insurgencies.

It all started in 2015, when the insurgency in Maghreb (North African region which includes Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania and Libya) attacked the gendarmerie. A year later, a group going by the name Ansarul Islam led by Ibrahim Malam Dicko was founded in Burkina Faso and the number of attacks spied. In 2018, the insurgency expanded to the East of the country which caused more massacres and pèrsecutions to take place including those of the 4th and 5th of June 2021 in which unknown militants massacred over 170 people in two villages.

Responses to the events are taking place currently; In 2022, the European Union supported humanitarian action in Burkina Faso with an amount of 52.4 million euros. The intergovernmental organization funds the delivery of emergency food assistance as well as providing free nutritional care for malnourished children under 5. Furthermore, it provides education where schools have been closed due to teachers and students facing threats from armed groups.

Burkina Faso is one of the hardest countries to grow up in. Children are faced with challenges such as displacement, poverty, education under attack and food insecurity. Statistics show that:

• 1 in 13 children die before their 5th birthday ( 11 times the children death rate in the US)

• ¼ Children has a stunted growth as a result of malnutrition

• More than ⅓ of children have no education and ⅔ of girls aged 15+ ae illiterate

• 42% of children are engaged in child labor, instead of attending schoolñ

• ⅓ of girls aged 15-19 are married

• 5 for every 1000 children is murdered

• 40% of people live in poverty

Save the Children is a leading charity for children in Burkina Faso. It organizes plans with programs in child health, education and helps tackle a variety of issues. These pans focus on improving child health, assesing and addressing malnutrition and food insecurity, promoting school enrollment (particularly for girls), ending child marriage and keeping children safe, as well as raising awareness of children’s rights in order to bring to surface the issue of child labor. It works closely with government ministries and other partners to assess children’s needs and successfully address them. Save the Children also helps families and communities make decisions about village health, school management and economic opportunities that positively affect the quality of life for themselves and their children.

Although we are reading about an issue 5,000km away from us currently, it is important to become aware that we can offer help. Save the Children’s programme enabled us to donate to Burkina Faso children in order for them to grow up healthy, educated and safe. For those wanting to impact them on a personal level directly, it is possible to sponsor a child and create ripples through his or her life. Let’s all work together towards the creation of a world where we all have access to the same opportunities, and a better tomorrow.