MALI / UNREST

Fighting since March between Malian government forces and Tuareg rebels in northern Mali has sent thousands fleeing south to find safety. The high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay voiced alarm today by continuing reports of serious human rights violations against the population of Mali, especially in rebel-held northern areas. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:25
• Production Date: 12 April 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: MALI
• MAMS Id: U120412e

Description

STORY: MALI / UNREST
TRT: 2.25
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 6, 9 APRIL 2012, SEVARE, MALI

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, family with their belongings.
2. Wide shot, woman sitting with baby on her lap
3. Close up, woman’s face
4. Close up, little girl’s face
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Mariame Traore, displaced Malian:
“I came with my whole family. We are eight people. We have not home, nothing to eat, and no clothes to wear. In Gao, there, the population has fled the rebels.”
6. Med shot, young children sitting on bags
7. Med shot, bags on the ground
8. Med shot, two women sitting and waiting
9. Wide shot, same location
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Hawa Maiga, displaced Malian:
“We left Timbuktu. We travelled for two days. In Timbuktu, there is nothing. No food, no government. Nothing. It is only the rebels there. We ran, by foot to Quarem. We came here and are now waiting for the chance to go to Bamako.”
11. Wide shot, Truck loaded with goods - doors being opened
12. Med shot, people standing around the truck
13. Med shot, people standing
14. Med shot, Bus stopped and people sitting around
15. SOUNDBITE (French) Abdoulaye Touré, bus Station Manager:
“The people of Qao fled. They left Qao by all means and in very difficult conditions. I cannot gage how many people are coming every day. They are coming by car, by baché. They are coming by every means possible escaping the north. Everybody has left Qao, including the children. They have nothing.”
16. Tracking shot, heavy truck going by
17 .Various shots, people with belongings

Storyline

They’ve come with what they could carry or put onto a truck.

Most of these people are from Gao or Timbuktu in northern Mali. They fled their homes after the Tuareg rebels took hold of the north, in late March.

SOUNDBITE (French) Mariame Traore, displaced Malian:
“I came with my whole family. We are eight people. We have not home, nothing to eat, and no clothes to wear. In Gao, there, the population has fled the rebels.’

The insecurity brought chaos and in Gao, the biggest city in the north, most of the stores closed food stocks were depleted or stolen. Electricity, fuel and water were also at risk of disappearing.

Other smaller towns in the region were also affected.

SOUNDBITE (French) Hawa Maiga, displaced Malian:
“We left Timbuktu. We travelled for ten days. In Timbuktu, there is nothing. No food, no government. Nothing. It is only the rebels there. We ran, by foot to Quarem. We came here and are now waiting for the chance to go to Bamako.”

More than 90,000 people have been displaced so far.

SOUNDBITE (Frfench) Abdoulaye Touré, Bus Station Manager:
“There is an influx of people from Qao. They left Qao and Timbuktu by all means and in very difficult conditions. I cannot gage how many people are coming every day. They are coming by car, by truck. They are coming by every means possible escaping the north. Everybody has left Qao, including the children. They have nothing.”

UNHCR has airlifted thousands of family tents and tones of supplies to Mali and surrounding countries, where people are also fleeing.

The situation remains unstable with the rebels holding onto the north while the south works to bring back democracy to the country.