Burkina Faso’s Military rulers expels top UN official over child rights report
Burkina Faso’s Military rulers has expelled the UN’s top official to the West African nation over a report about children caught up in the jihadist conflict.
Carol Flore-Smereczniak was declared “persona non grata” because of her role in drafting the report that came out in March.
Covering a two-year period, the study detailed more than 2,000 cases of reported child recruitment, killings, sexual violence and abuse , blaming Islamist insurgents, government soldiers and civilian defence forces.
The military government, which came to power in September 2022 and is led by Capt Ibrahim Traoré, said it had not been consulted by the UN, saying the report contained unfounded allegations.
It did not cite any documentation “or court rulings to support the alleged cases of violations against children attributed to the valiant Burkinabé fighters”, the government’s statement said.
Since 2015, jihadist rebels affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged an insurgency that has killed thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.
It has prompted political instability, with two military coups in 2022. Capt Traoré took power promising to deal with the dire security situation within “two to three months”.
