Since early September, central Mali has seen a resurgence of violence that has claimed dozens of lives and has displaced thousands of people. In response to this influx of displaced people, MSF has set up a mobile clinic in the town of Macina, where large numbers of families are gathering.
Armed groups have carried out a series of attacks against several towns in the Ségou region, notably Souleye on September 1 and Touara on September 15, forcing many families to flee. More than 3,400 displaced people have arrived in Macina, a small town on the banks of the Niger River. Kadiatou* fled Touara with her family, leaving everything behind. “We heard gunfire during prayer time around 4 p.m., and it lasted until 8 p.m.,” she says. “Armed men managed to enter the village, and everyone panicked. Our husbands sent us away in a canoe with the children in the middle of the night.”
In Macina, Kadiatou and her family have found refuge with a relative, who is sharing his home with about 40 displaced people, all of whom are traumatized by the attacks. “At night, I can still hear the gunfire from that attack. We haven’t been able to bury some of our loved ones; their bodies are still in the village” tells Kadiatou, haunted by images of the attack.
In support of the Ministry of Health’s facilities, MSF has been operating a mobile clinic in Macina since late September, treating approximately 150 patients each day.
“We’re mainly seeing respiratory infections, linked to the living conditions of the displaced people, as well as cases of malaria. Many of the displaced people have no shelter and lack latrines and water sources,” explains Hussein Younoussa, MSF’s emergency operations manager. Most displaced people seeking medical care are women and children. In fifteen days, MSF teams have treated 2,131 people, including 662 women and 591 children.
Most of the displaced people are living with host families, who have opened their homes to them but are unable to meet all their needs. Others are living on the streets, and new people arrive in the town every day. This is putting immense pressure on limited local resources, as Macina was already hosting more than 5,000 displaced people before this latest escalation of violence. There is a shortage of everything—shelter, food, and drinking water—and the risk of epidemics is a cause for concern among city officials.
Emergency kits provided by MSF to the Macina hospital have also made it possible to treat 25 patients wounded during the attack on Touara. The attacks have led to a military counteroffensive and an escalation of violence in central Mali.
This latest wave of violence and displacement comes as a number of humanitarian organizations have withdrawn from the Macina area due to a lack of funding,