Thousands Flee to Camps as Jihadist Violence Escalates

Thousands of desperate civilians have fled to displacement camps near the town of Dori in northeastern Burkina Faso, escaping escalating jihadist violence that has forced them to abandon homes and farms. The Norwegian Refugee Council has ranked Burkina Faso as suffering the world's most neglected displacement crisis for the second consecutive year.

Around 3,000 people now live in ramshackle shelters at the Wendou camps alone after militants linked to Al-Qaeda or Islamic State threatened villages, stole cattle and killed residents. Last September, eight camp inhabitants were killed in an attack. One-quarter of Burkina Faso's estimated 2 million displaced are from the northern Sahel region.

Visiting in May, the NRC chief said the Sahel area is systematically overlooked, with the crisis worsening due to strained relations between military governments and Western donors over the jihadist insurgency. Despite government claims of victories, violence persists in territories beyond army control.

Camp residents eke out desperate existences, some men resorting to illegal and dangerous gold panning while children try to buy small amounts of food. Supplies must traverse jihadist hotspots, causing scarcity and soaring prices. Convoys traverse the perilous route with military escorts after long delays.

The UN flies in essentials, but most aid is road-transported. Costs have skyrocketed - a 50kg sack of rice now $47 compared to $28 a few years ago. Ouagadougou deliveries that once arrived overnight now take weeks awaiting convoy escorts.

With no prospects to return home, the displaced cling to the camps despite hardship, seeing no choice but to stay amid the violence and deprivation engulfing the conflict-ravaged Sahel.