Burkina Faso’s military junta on Monday declared the United Nations’ top representative in the country, Carol Flore-Smereczniak, “persona non grata” over a report alleging the recruitment of children in the country’s jihadist conflict.
The March UN report, titled Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso, documented grave violations against minors, including child recruitment, sexual violence, abductions, and attacks on schools and hospitals. While most cases were attributed to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, investigators also accused Burkina Faso’s security forces and their civilian auxiliaries, the Volunteers for the Defence of the Nation, of responsibility for about one-fifth of the violations.
In a statement, the junta rejected the findings as “baseless,” accusing the UN of making unsubstantiated claims against “valiant Burkinabe fighters” without supporting documentation. The government said Flore-Smereczniak must leave the country for her “responsibility” in preparing the report.
This is not the first expulsion of a UN official by Burkina Faso’s rulers, who seized power in a September 2022 coup. In December that year, they expelled Italian diplomat Barbara Manzi, then the UN’s top representative.
Burkina Faso has been at the epicenter of a decade-long jihadist insurgency that has killed more than 26,000 people and displaced millions. Despite pledges to restore security, the junta and its auxiliary forces continue to face accusations of serious abuses against civilians.
