Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised the alarm over widespread killings, rapes, and lootings of villages in northeast Mali.
Development Diaries reports that as a result, thousands of people have been forced to flee Ménaka and Gao regions.
A 2022 report by HRW revealed that human rights and security deteriorated in Mali in 2021 as abuses by armed Islamist groups spiked, a political crisis deepened, and impunity for past and ongoing atrocities by all armed groups persisted.
According to HRW, security has deteriorated sharply amid clashes between two armed Islamist groups as they seek to control supply routes and increase their influence.
It noted that amid the mounting abuses, Mali’s transitional military government obtained United Nations Security Council approval for the departure of the UN peacekeeping force, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), beginning 01 July.
Senior Sahel researcher HRW, Ilaria Allegrozzi, said, ‘Islamist armed groups are brutally attacking civilians and fueling a massive humanitarian emergency.
‘The departure of UN peacekeepers means that the Malian authorities need to ramp up efforts to protect civilians and work closely with international partners to ensure that displaced people have access to aid and basic services’.
HRW cautioned that the Malian authorities will need to work more closely with regional bodies and donor governments to address the expanding security and aid vacuum.
Development Diaries calls on the Malian government to investigate issues of killings and human rights violations by Islamist groups and step up efforts towards taming their influence.
Source: HRW
Photo source: European Commission DG ECHO