Enaderfé Ag Mohamed Elmoctar was an aid worker for the non-governmental organization (NGO) Triangle génération humanitaire. On vacation, he was passing through Mali with his family. On Thursday January 2, he left Niono in a vehicle to visit his mother in the M'Bera refugee camp in Mauritania. On Saturday January 4, his vehicle was found burnt out in Fatissouma, near Dioura. Enaderfé was found dead alongside his pregnant wife, their 3-year-old son and 6 other passengers. On the same day, the bodies of 4 other civilians were found in Tinlokyane, near Gargando. In total, 13 civilians were killed. The pro-independence rebels of the Front de libération de l'Azawad (FLA) and numerous local witnesses claim that the Malian armed forces (FAMa) and Wagner (now Africa Corps) were responsible for these executions. Unfortunately, these tragic events are not isolated cases. In Mali, violence against civilians has increased since the arrival of the Russian mercenaries. Many civilians have been forced to flee their homes.
On the same day, the bodies of 4 other civilians were found in Tinlokyane, near Gargando. In all, 13 civilians were killed.

To date, Mauritania hosts more than 262,000 refugees and asylum seekers. More than 242,000 Malian refugees are in the Hodh Ech Chargui region alone. A few kilometers from the border, around 110,000 Malian refugees reside in the Mbera camp. A further 132,000 are spread across 70 host villages in the surrounding area. In the Mbera camp, the white tents marked with the UNHCR logo are home to tens of thousands of Malian families. Families whose numbers are constantly increasing. The exponential growth is such that Mohamed Askia Touré claims that “the Mbera refugee camp has become the country's second city”.

The intensification of violence in Mali has created a veritable humanitarian crisis. The Mbera camp is overcrowded. Designed to accommodate 70,000 refugees, it is now home to almost twice that number. However, humanitarian aid in the camp is dwindling due to a lack of international funding. The World Food Program (WFP) has had to reduce the food rations distributed to refugees due to a lack of funding. Mariam, a Malian refugee, deplores the fact that there is “not enough drinking water for everyone”, and that sometimes you have to “wait for hours under the sun to fill a jerry can”. Mauritania almost single-handedly assumes the burden of hosting these refugees. A Mauritanian Interior Ministry official declares: “We're very proud of what we're doing, but we're almost on our own”. The country has made several appeals to the international community for greater support, but these have been drowned out by the multitude of other global crises. Even on its own, Mauritania has no choice but to welcome the Malian refugees. An official at the Mbera camp asserts that “there's no generosity there”, “closing the doors to these people would be diplomatic and security suicide”.

Mauritania is a country with limited resources. Yet the Mauritanian authorities talk of a “significant” budgetary effort devoted to refugees, in a national budget that is already constrained. An official from the Ministry of the Economy points out that “the Mauritanian government is also striving to integrate refugees into national systems, for example by issuing birth certificates via civil registry offices and working with international partners such as the World Bank to transfer certain services. All this comes at a cost. Over 16.6% of the country's population lives below the extreme poverty line. In the Hodh Chargui region, one of the poorest in Mauritania, 78% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty (infant mortality, nutrition, electricity, etc.). Around the Mbera camp, pressure on water, food and healthcare resources is high. Local populations are bearing the brunt. The price of basic foodstuffs has risen sharply, and access to drinking water has become more difficult. A resident of Bassikounou recounts that “prices have soared with the arrival of the refugees”, and that she has “difficulty finding food” and that “water has become scarce”. Local populations feel abandoned.

The situation in Mali and Mauritania remains extremely worrying. Growing violence continues to destabilize the country. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are forced to flee to Mauritania to escape increasingly violent atrocities. The Mbera camp and nearby host villages are overwhelmed by a constant influx of refugees. The pressure these arrivals are putting on local resources is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Despite Mauritania's efforts to manage the situation, the international response remains inadequate.