United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are investigating reports that thousands of people recently fled into The Gambia from unrest in Senegal’s southern Casamance region.
Gambian authorities told a UN inter-agency assessment mission to the border region last Friday that 3,740 people had crossed into 23 villages in The Gambia from 16-23 August because of fighting between Senegalese troops and rebels from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
The influx of people appears to have stopped, Roseline Idowu, the Dakar-based regional representative for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told IRIN on Monday.
She said the ICRC in conjunction with the Gambian Red Cross were investigating the figures on the displaced further this week as it was unclear how many people who were registered by Gambian authorities were fleeing danger or were simply going about their daily lives.
“We want to make sure they are not coming for economic reasons,” Idowu said. “We want to make sure that it’s not the usual coming and going that is occurring.” She said that children cross the border daily from Casamance to attend school in Gambian villages and women cross over to receive antenatal and postnatal care.
Idowu said families who were hosting the displaced said it was the lean period between the planting and harvesting seasons and they feared running out of food soon. About 75 people were sheltered in a primary school and a vocational center, she said.
There is also some internal displacement within Casamance, said Idowu.
She said UN agencies were hoping to meet with Senegalese authorities this week to find out the name of the villages where Senegalese troops had been deployed.
Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by the sliver of land that makes up The Gambia. The MFDC took up arms against the Senegalese government nearly 25 years ago, claiming the region was marginalised. The government and MFDC reached a peace agreement in December 2004 but some hardliners have refused to give up the fight.
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Gambian authorities told a UN inter-agency assessment mission to the border region last Friday that 3,740 people had crossed into 23 villages in The Gambia from 16-23 August because of fighting between Senegalese troops and rebels from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
The influx of people appears to have stopped, Roseline Idowu, the Dakar-based regional representative for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told IRIN on Monday.
She said the ICRC in conjunction with the Gambian Red Cross were investigating the figures on the displaced further this week as it was unclear how many people who were registered by Gambian authorities were fleeing danger or were simply going about their daily lives.
“We want to make sure they are not coming for economic reasons,” Idowu said. “We want to make sure that it’s not the usual coming and going that is occurring.” She said that children cross the border daily from Casamance to attend school in Gambian villages and women cross over to receive antenatal and postnatal care.
Idowu said families who were hosting the displaced said it was the lean period between the planting and harvesting seasons and they feared running out of food soon. About 75 people were sheltered in a primary school and a vocational center, she said.
There is also some internal displacement within Casamance, said Idowu.
She said UN agencies were hoping to meet with Senegalese authorities this week to find out the name of the villages where Senegalese troops had been deployed.
Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by the sliver of land that makes up The Gambia. The MFDC took up arms against the Senegalese government nearly 25 years ago, claiming the region was marginalised. The government and MFDC reached a peace agreement in December 2004 but some hardliners have refused to give up the fight.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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