PREVIEW
Since 2012, Mauritania has been hosting Malian refugees on its territory following the outbreak of the security crisis in Mali. As of January 2021, there are approximately 69,700,600 Malian refugees in the arid southeastern area of Bassikounou, where the Mbera refugee camp is located, and approximately 10,530 urban refugees and asylum seekers in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou. While some refugees are on the path to self-sufficiency, others are struggling to meet their basic needs.
Aware of the likely protracted nature of forced displacement in the country, the government of Mauritania is strongly committed to ensuring the protection of refugees while promoting their increased self-reliance and the resilience of host communities.
Mauritania is a party to several international conventions relating to refugees and the Mauritanian government committed to adopting a national asylum law at the Global Refugee Forum (December 2019).
Since the establishment of Mbera camp in 2012, UNHCR, WFP and the Government of Mauritania have worked closely together on the provision of food assistance and livelihoods programming to support the basic needs and self-reliance of refugees. .
In 2021, with the support of UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the World Food Program (WFP), the Mauritanian government included refugee households in the National Social Registry of Mauritania, in order to allow eligible refugees to receive assistance from national social protection programmes.
Source: World Food Program