Under Siege: How Blockaded Towns in Burkina Faso Became the World’s Forgotten Crisis

Under Siege: How Blockaded Towns in Burkina Faso Became the World’s Forgotten Crisis

By Tahir Ali Shah

Imagine living in a town where every road out is blocked by armed groups. You cannot farm your fields, the market shelves are empty, and the only way to get a meager bag of food is if a risky, expensive military convoy or air drop manages to break through. You are cut off from the world, and most tragically, from the very aid meant to keep you alive.

This is the grim reality for hundreds of thousands of people in Burkina Faso, a West African nation now at the heart of one of the world’s most acute, yet most neglected, humanitarian crises.

A Crisis in Numbers, A Catastrophe in Life

The scale of suffering in Burkina Faso is immense:

• Over 2 Million People Displaced: This is the staggering number of people who have been forced to flee their homes inside the country. They are known as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Most are women and children who left everything behind after their villages were attacked or threatened by non-state armed groups.
• More Than 37 Blockaded Towns: These are large and small communities that have been surrounded and cut off by armed groups, sometimes for more than a year. Places like Djibo, Pama, and Titao are under a near-total siege.
• Aid Cannot Get In: In many of these blockaded towns, humanitarian organizations simply cannot reach the people in need. Reports indicate that in half of these locations, less than one percent of civilians receive help from international NGOs.

The people trapped inside are facing catastrophic food shortages. Water systems are often destroyed, health clinics are shut down, and children are starving. This is not just a food crisis; it is a slow-motion collapse of human life and dignity.

A Brief History of a Spreading Conflict

How did things get this bad? This crisis didn't happen overnight.

For decades, Burkina Faso was known for being a relatively peaceful country in a troubled region. The conflict truly began to take root around 2015, spreading from neighboring Mali.

The Early Years (2015 - 2019): Non-state armed groups, often linked to transnational extremist organizations, began to launch attacks, mainly in the northern and eastern regions. They exploited poverty, weak government presence, and long-standing tensions between communities. This initial surge of violence forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes, creating the first wave of IDPs.

The Rapid Escalation (2020 - Present): The violence became much more widespread and brutal. As the conflict intensified, it overwhelmed the government and security forces, leading to political instability and multiple military coups. Crucially, the armed groups started using blockades as a weapon of war—cutting off roads and supplies to key towns to assert control and punish communities they deemed loyal to the government.

The result is the current situation: a crisis of displacement that has now morphed into a crisis of containment.

The Failure of Protection

The most urgent humanitarian concern is the failure to protect these trapped civilians and provide them with life-saving aid. This failure has two sides:

1. The Blockade as a Weapon of War

Armed groups are intentionally preventing food, water, and medicine from reaching civilians. Starvation and lack of basic care are being used to break the will of the people. This tactic is a direct violation of international laws that are meant to protect civilians during conflict.

2. The World's Collective Silence

Despite the clear scale of the emergency, Burkina Faso remains woefully under-funded and under-publicized. It has repeatedly been named one of the most neglected displacement crises in the world by major aid organizations.

The lack of international focus means:

• Low Funding: Humanitarian appeals for Burkina Faso are consistently among the lowest funded globally. Aid organizations simply don't have the resources to ramp up difficult, costly, and high-risk operations like airlifts and protected convoys.
• No Diplomatic Pressure: Without global political pressure, there is little incentive for all parties to the conflict—including the armed groups and the Burkinabè government—to ensure humanitarian access is granted immediately and without conditions.

 What We Must Do Now

The forgotten people of blockaded towns in Burkina Faso deserve to be seen and saved. Advocacy can no longer be a suggestion; it must be an imperative.

We must act on three fronts:

1. Demand Access Now: The global community, through the United Nations and regional bodies, must immediately utilize all diplomatic means to pressure all parties to lift the blockades and ensure safe, sustained access to humanitarian aid. Aid is not a negotiation tool; it is a necessity.
2. Increase Funding: Donors must rapidly and significantly increase financial support for the humanitarian response plan. Every dollar is a lifeline for food, water, shelter, and medical care for the 2 million displaced people and those trapped in the besieged enclaves.
3. Break the Silence: We Must Amplify the Voices of the Victims. This article is a call to action: share the story, speak to your representatives, and refuse to let the world continue to ignore this man-made catastrophe.

The silent crisis in Burkina Faso is an indictment of the world’s priorities. If we allow hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians to starve and die in the dark, under siege, what does it say about the concept of international protection? We have a duty to remember, and a moral obligation to act.

The siege must end.