Civilians are paying a heavy price in the crisis that has been raging in the Sahel for nearly 15 years, with many people forced to flee after violence broke out in their villages. Having lost everything, they find refuge in neighbouring countries, where they try to rebuild their lives. HI helps them on their path to resilience by offering psychological support, referring them to appropriate healthcare facilities and providing financial and financial support. This is the case for Ibrahim*, who tells his story and that of his family, who left their native Burkina Faso for Togo.
The outbreak of violence in everyday life
My name is Ibrahim*, I am 47 years old and I come from a village in western Burkina Faso. Until 2024, I lived there with my wife and our eight children. We had twenty hectares of land where I grew millet, maize, beans, peanuts... These crops were used to feed our family and, sometimes, we sold the surplus to buy products we needed.
This happy life came to an end the day a group of heavily armed people arrived in our village. There were many of them, and their faces were masked, so only their eyes were visible. They ordered all the villagers to gather together and made us leave the village.
For twenty days, we remained their hostages in the bush. They killed some villagers, others died of hunger and thirst, fear, or got lost in the bush. We slept under the trees, without mats, on the bare ground. Fortunately, one day, taking advantage of a moment when their surveillance had slackened, my family and I managed to escape during the night.
Rebuilding everything in a new country
We headed towards eastern Burkina Faso and then turned south towards Togo. There were many of us fleeing together. My family travelled for twenty days before finally settling in a town on the northern border of Togo.
Here, we are safe, but life is not easy. I lost my fields and cannot grow anything, my wife has no job and the children do not go to school. To find enough to feed my family, I take on any odd jobs I can find, such as weeding other people's fields before the planting season. Sometimes I go to the market to beg for money.
That's why HI's support has been so valuable to us. With their help, we were able to buy what we needed: bags of rice, salt, oil and all the mats we have today.
Support for communities in northern Togo
HI is implementing an emergency response project in northern Togo and Benin to help refugees and local residents cope with the crisis and strengthen community resilience. This project will help more than 26,000 people.
Thanks to the work of HI's protection officers and community representatives trained by the organisation, displaced persons in psychological distress receive initial psychological support or are referred to the appropriate services to meet their needs. Between April 2024 and September 2025, 1,153 people received psychosocial support. HI also provides financial support to the poorest households to enable them to cover their basic needs. In Togo, 12,871 people received financial assistance.
* Name changed.
