BURKINA FASO / MALI REFUGEES

Malian refugees in Burkina Faso’s Fererio camp have been moved further away from the border with Mali to ensure their safety. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:40
• Production Date: 21 December 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: BURKINA FASO; MALI
• MAMS Id: U121221b

Description

STORY: BURKINA FASO / MALI REFUGEES
TRT: 2.40
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 21 NOVEMBER 2012, FERERIO, GOUDEBOU, BURKINA FASO

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, Fererio
2. Various shots, refugees sitting outside
3. Wide shot, refugees waiting for registration
4. Close up, Mahmoud Ag Saleh
5. Wide shot, Mahmoud and his family
6. Close up, Mahmoud's daughter
7. Close up, Mahmoud Ag Saleh sleeping
8. Wide shot, Mahmoud and his family eating
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Mahmoud Ag Saleh, Malian Refugee:
“Life is hard here because there is nothing to do. I don’t have any work. We have health problems.”
10. Wide shot, Mahmoud and his family entering the centre
11. Close up, relocation papers
12. Wide shot, Mahmoud and his family proceeding for relocation
13. Close up, Mahmoud playing with his daughter
14. Wide shot, refugees waiting for vehicle
15. Wide shot, refugees getting on the truck
16. Close up, hands holding a ticket
17. Wide shot, refugees in the truck
18. Wide shot, refugee boy with his mother
19. Tilt up, refugee boy
20. Med shot, Mahmoud and her daughter in the truck
21. Wide shot, trucks arriving
22. Various shots, refugees being assisted to get off the truck
23. SOUNDBITE (French) Marie Louise Kabre Barreto, UNHCR Burkina Faso:
“Our camps in the Sahel, two official camps are too close to the border, less than 50 kilometres, so we have to make these people who came from Mali in distress more secure.”
24. Wide shot, refugees being guided to their new tent
25. SOUNDBITE (French) Mohamed Lemine Malia, Refugee:
“There is already a school for first graders; we are constructing classes for the older students. We are going to install solar panels to bring electricity to the camp.”
26. Wide shot, Mahmoud and his family entering their new tent
27. Wide shot, Mahmoud and his family in their new tent
28. SOUNDBITE (French) Mahmoud Ag Saleh, Malian Refugee:
“I am happy to be here. Everybody was so welcoming when we arrived yesterday. It is like being in my country.”
29. Wide shot, refugees in Goudebou camp
30. Med shot, refugee women building their tent
31. Med shot, refugee baby listening music with telephone

Storyline

Fererio camp sits in a desolate corner of the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso.

It is to here that over 8,000 Malian refugees have come to escape the rebel take-over of northern Mali.

Mahmoud Ag Saleh was a taxi driver in Bamako. He lived there with his wife and children.

When fighting broke out in Northern Mali, fearing for his family, they left. Their nine months in Fererio have not been easy.

SOUNDBITE (French) Mahmoud Ag Saleh, Malian Refugee:
“Life is hard here because there is nothing to do. I don’t have any work. We have health problems.”

Still convincing the refugees to move away from the border area is not always easy. Distance takes them further away from their country and their homes but with his wife nine months pregnant, Mahmoud agreed to move.

The refugees are separated into groups. UNHCR staff makes medical assessments and those who can travel are given a ticket and a place in a transport vehicle.

Some of the refugees, especially the young ones, bear witness to the harshness of the conditions here. Mahmoud’s daughter and wife’s are moved by ambulance.

The four and half hour journey brings them to Goudebou, situated 147 kilometres from the border. This camp offers the refugees more safety.

SOUNDBITE (French) Marie Louise Kabre Barreto, UNHCR Burkina Faso:
“Our camps in the Sahel, two official camps are too close to the border, less than 50 kilometres, so we have to make these people who came from Mali in distress more secure.”

Along with more safety come more services.

SOUNDBITE (French) Mohamed Lemine Malia, Refugee:
“There is already a school for first graders; we are constructing classes for the older students. We are going to install solar panels to bring electricity to the camp.”

A new tent, a new temporary home, the move has brought a smile to Mahmoud.

SOUNDBITE (French) Mahmoud Ag Saleh, Malian Refugee:
“I am happy to be here. Everybody was so welcoming when we arrived yesterday. It is like being in my country.”

A total of over 2,000 refugees have been moved to date. More are expected.