“They told us to leave and never to come back” – The Malian survivors of the conflict who have been forced into exile by armed groups

Over the past decade, the conflict in Mali between the armed forces and their allies and various non-state armed groups has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their country, including to Mauritania.

Certain armed groups, in particular the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), also known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), and the Islamic State – Sahel province (ISSP), violate the right to religious freedom, and plunder civilians’ goods and resources. They are also driving people out of their villages, particularly in the Ségou, Timbuktu, and Mopti regions.

In July 2026, 290,000 Malian refugees were registered by the UNHCR in the wilaya [region] of Hodh Ech-Chargui, in southeastern Mauritania, near the Malian border.

Amnesty International visited them in 2025 and 2026 as part of a research about abuses committed by the parties to the conflict in Mali.