Over 18,000 Burkina Faso citizens find refuge in neighboring Côte d’Ivoire over insecurity

As Burkina Faso is dogged in insecurity, 18.846 of its citizens have found refuge in Côte d’Ivoire, Ivorian authorities indicated Wednesday.

The national security council, headed by President Alassan Ouattara, had it that the refugees have settled in north and north-east areas of the country. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees conducted a biometric census of the displaced population and 4, 235 have been counted, the council said in a statement.

The president has issued orders to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugee. This measure has also enabled “the identification and ongoing development of two transit sites in the departments of Ouangolodougou and Bouna, intended to temporarily accommodate these refugees, pending their return to their country of origin,” the statement said.

Burkina Faso has, since 2015, been struggling with insecurity posed by bandits and terror groups. The state has lost 40 per cent of the territory to terrorists.
According to the the UN refugee agency, at least 100 refugees cross into Côte d’Ivoire every day.