ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Since August, UNHCR observed a new wave of arrivals from northern Mali, which progressively increased to reach a peak between end of September and early October, when more than 300 people arrived in less than two weeks. This represents a fourfold increase compared to the total number of new arrivals over the last 8 months. In total, UNHCR registered 394 people between August and early October. While influxes keep occurring, new arrivals are assisted with emergency food, shelter and basic items.

• There is an urgent need to replace shelter and latrines – 50% of latrines in Mbera camp will reach their maximum storage capacity by the end of 2016. This is particularly crucial considering the unstable situation in northern Mali, with unlikely massive return and recent waves of arrivals to the camp.

• On 30 September 2016, the UNHCR-Mali-Mauritania Tripartite Commission held its first meeting in Bamako. The Tripartite Agreement framework offers a platform for discussion to ensure safe conditions of return for refugees and safe conditions of asylum while in the host country.

Operational Context

In collaboration with the Mauritanian Government who has kept its borders open to new influxes, UN organizations and national and international NGOs, UNHCR continues to lead the humanitarian response for 42,096 Malian refugees in Mbera camp. In addition, the organization ensures the protection and assistance of 1,453 urban refugees and 388 asylum seekers, mainly from the Central African Republic, Syria and Côte d’Ivoire.

UNHCR works closely with Mauritanian authorities to enhance the protection space for refugees and asylum seekers in Mauritania, notably through the development and implementation of a national asylum law and system. Pending the adoption of a national refugee legislation, UNHCR advocates for further integration of refugees by improving access to basic services, such as health, economic opportunities but also to documentation and birth registration.

The majority of Malian refugees living in Mbera camp arrived in 2012: violent clashes in north Mali triggered important waves of displacements into Mauritania, where a refugee camp was established 50 Km from the Malian border in the Hodh el Charghi region. Following the military intervention in northern Mali in January 2013, new influxes of Malian refugees were accommodated in Mbera camp.

On 16 June 2016, Mauritania, Mali and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Malian refugees. The tripartite agreement reiterates the voluntary nature of repatriation and reconfirms the commitments of the Mauritanian and Malian states to protect refugees. However, despite the signing of a peace agreement in Mali in June 2015 and the voluntary return of more than 1,800 refugees from Mbera camp so far in 2016, the security conditions in northern Mali remain volatile. Large-scale returns of refugees are therefore not yet envisaged and UNHCR and its partners maintain their presence in Bassikounou to sustain the humanitarian response in Mbera Camp where some 500 new arrivals from Mali have been registered in 2016.