UNHCR Official Warns of Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in Sahel Region

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Immediate action is needed to address the growing humanitarian crisis in the Sahel, or the situation risks spilling over into neighboring countries and becoming a global problem, a UNHCR official warned on Wednesday.

Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, the U.N. refugee agency's director for west and central Africa, highlighted the volatile conditions in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, warning that the instability could affect neighboring countries such as Togo, Benin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, and Algeria.

"The Gulf of Guinea, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire are already suffering because of the spiral of insecurity and the humanitarian situation — the same with Mauritania, the same with Algeria," Gnon-Konde told AFP in Brussels. "If we don't act now, if we don't respond now, if we don't find a way to remain there, stay and continue to remain engaged, finding a solution, then somehow those countries will be overwhelmed, the state will be overwhelmed, and it will become a problem for the world."

Gnon-Konde was in Brussels to emphasize to EU officials the importance of focusing on the African regions where conflicts have displaced some 10.5 million people, even as international attention is drawn to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

"Despite all the change, all the crises that we see in the world, despite all the conflict that we have, things are happening in the Sahel and that merits our attention," he said.

On Tuesday, Gnon-Konde participated in an EU-hosted donors' conference for the Sahel, where the European Commission pledged 201 million euros ($218 million) for vulnerable people in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria.

Military regimes in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali have expelled French troops and are increasingly seeking support from Russia to combat jihadist insurgencies, causing concern among Western donors. However, Gnon-Konde stressed that for the UNHCR, "it doesn't matter who is in charge" in these countries, as the priority is addressing the needs of civilian populations.

Chad, located between Niger and Sudan, is emerging as a "testing case" for the region, international donors, and the U.N., Gnon-Konde added. The country, which has just announced its first government after three years of military rule, is hosting nearly one million Sudanese refugees, with numbers expected to rise by the end of the year.

The warning from the UNHCR underscores the urgent need for international engagement and support to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel and prevent further regional destabilization.