Burkina Faso expels UN regional co-ordinator

Geneva — Burkina Faso has declared UN regional co-ordinator Carol Flore-Smereczniak persona non grata over a UN report alleging violations against children in the West African country, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

Burkinabe authorities were neither involved in the preparation of the UN report, titled “Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso”, nor informed of the study’s conclusions before publication, the government spokesperson said in a statement.

The UN expressed regret over the decision, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

“The organisation is accorded privileges and immunities, including the right for its staff members to remain in Burkina Faso in order to perform their functions on behalf of the organisation,” he said.

The government accused the UN of making baseless assertions and stating falsehoods in the report, without citing relevant investigations or court rulings.

Flore-Smereczniak, who was forced to leave the country, has more than 20 years’ experience in development, security, humanitarian, conflict and post-conflict settings and was appointed to the post in Burkina Faso last year, according to the UN.

The study detailed more than 2,000 cases of reported child recruitment, killings, sexual violence and abuse by insurgents, government soldiers and civilian defence forces, according to news media.

Violence fuelled by a decade-long battle against Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State has worsened in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries where power was seized in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023.

The UN has in the past condemned what it says have been killings, abuses and abductions of children in the Sahel regional conflict as well as the recruitment of child soldiers.

Dujarric reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to continue engaging with Burkina Faso’s authorities to support the nation and its people. 

Reuters