Burkina Faso junta declares UN coordinator persona non grata over child rights report

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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The military junta in Burkina Faso on Monday declared the United Nations resident coordinator Carol Flore-Smereczniak as “persona non grata” over an official U.N. report that accused jihadi groups and government forces of abuses against children.

In a statement, the government accused Flore-Smereczniak of participating in the preparation of the report — titled Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso — which it says is “without evidence or supporting documentation” and that conveyed “serious and false information.”

The U.N. has been approached for comment.

The report was published in April and accused both jihadi groups and government forces of abuses against children, including their recruitment as soldiers, sexual abuses and attacks on hospitals and schools.

Covering the period between July 2022 and June 2024, it said 2,483 grave violations against 2,255 children had been verified, including some children who were victims of multiple violations

Flore-Smereczniak was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in July 2024 as the organization’s resident coordinator in Burkina Faso as well as the humanitarian coordinator.

In a statement at the time, the U.N. said the appointment had been made “with the host Government’s approval.”

Burkina Faso, along with its neighbors Niger and Mali, has for over a decade battled an insurgency fought by jihadi groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance.

But the security situation in the Sahel has worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and civilians killed both by Islamic militants and government forces.

In 2023, the head of the U.N.'s human rights office called for an investigation into the killings of at least 28 people, which local human rights groups blamed on volunteer militias supporting Burkina Faso’s army.