Burkina Faso expels UN official after report details child abuse by armed groups and security forces
According to the UN report, armed groups were responsible for 1,610 violations (65 per cent), while 501 cases (20 per cent) were linked to defence and security forces and pro-government militias.
Burkina Faso has expelled a senior United Nations official following the release of a report accusing armed groups and security forces of committing abuses against children.
Reports indicate that UN regional coordinator Carol Flore-Smereczniak has been declared persona non grata in response to the March 2025 report, "Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso", which documents the impact of conflict on children in the country.
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According to Reuters, Burkinabe authorities said they were never consulted during the report’s preparation nor briefed on its findings before its release.
They dismissed the report, which covers the period from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024, as containing "baseless assertions and falsehoods" allegedly unsupported by thorough investigations.
The report identifies trends and patterns across six grave violations, including the recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, sexual violence, attacks on schools, hospitals, and protected persons, the abduction of children, and denial of humanitarian access.
Grave violations
It verified 2,483 grave violations affecting 2,255 children, including 1,310 boys, 750 girls, and 195 children whose sex was not identified. Among them, 223 children experienced multiple abuses.
According to the report, armed groups were responsible for 1,610 violations (65 per cent), while 501 cases (20 per cent) were linked to defence and security forces and pro-government militias. Another 372 violations (15 per cent) could not be attributed.
The report also notes that the last quarter of 2023 saw a surge, with 560 cases—23 per cent of the total—recorded in just three months.
"The killing and maiming of children was the most prominent grave violation, followed by abduction, and recruitment and use. Of particular concern was an increase in the number of verified attacks on schools within the reporting period. Rape and other forms of sexual violence remained underreported," the report, seen by The Eastleigh Voice, reads.
"The denial of humanitarian access, as well as the detention of children for their alleged associations with armed groups, were also issues of great concern in relation to child protection."
The report further highlighted that a total of 1,386 children, some as young as eight months, were killed or maimed during the reporting period.
"Violations were attributed to JNIM (501), transitional government and pro-transitional government forces (464) (including the defence and security forces and volontaires pour la défense de la patrie (462) and dozo traditional hunters (2)) and ISGS (159)," the report reads.
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