Half of Burkina Faso under terrorist control
Like many countries in the Sahel in West Africa, Burkina Faso has been suffering under Islamist terrorism in recent years. Following the murder of a priest on 2 January, ACN’s Amélie Berthelin spoke to Bishop Laurent Dabiré of Dori, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Burkina Faso and Niger, about the situation in Burkina Faso.
By ACN Staff
Internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Bishop Laurent Dabiré explained that after years of terrorism, the people of Burkina Faso are exhausted. Many families are grieving the loss of their loved ones due to the violence. The bishop explained that despite all of this, people were still in high spirits for Christmas:
“Nonetheless, Christmas has always been a time for joy in our country and has usually been a time of truce. People gather for Mass, although some don’t come because they are afraid. We understand this, and we don’t ask people to be any braver than they can. Christmas gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to all the victims of this war and to pray together for a return to peace.”
Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The bishop explained that roughly half of Burkina Faso is under the control of terrorists. The bishop also outlined that many of these terrorist groups are Islamists:
“Some groups have explicitly declared their intentions, but with others you need go no further than their names, such as the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which explicitly aims to impose Islam on the whole country, including through the use of terrorism. Of course, this implies having to suppress the current society, which is multireligious and marked by dialogue and coexistence. The terrorists want to eradicate this society and all who do not profess the same brand of Islam as them, including Muslims, which means that the terrorism is now aimed at society as a whole.”
The impact of this terrorist activity has been dire for the Church in Burkina Faso:
“The consequences of this wave of terrorism over the past seven years have been terrible. From a pastoral point of view, we can no longer move around as we did before. Our scope of action is much smaller, because the terrorists occupy two-thirds of the territory of the Sahel. All we have left, practically, are the provincial capitals. The Diocese of Dori has six parishes, three had to be closed, and we came close to closing another this summer. Another is blockaded. In some places there are food shortages and communications are down, we only manage to get some messages through thanks to a few UN organisations that have the means to transmit them.”
This danger has forced the closure of many parishes. The bishop explained that this often comes at the request of the local parishioners who are aware of the extra dangers that priests on the ground face.
There are around two million internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso. The bishop outlined that in these circumstances, Catholic radio stations have been of tremendous help in communicating and providing instruction to displaced Catholics.