VIOLENCE linked to al-Qaida and Isis has made Burkina Faso a country with one of the world’s fastest-growing populations of internally displaced people, according to government data released on Sunday.

The new figures show more than two million people have been internally displaced in the west African nation, a rise of 2,000 per cent since 2019.

The dire humanitarian crisis, affecting mainly women and children, comes as conflict has pushed people from their homes into congested urban areas or makeshift camps.

Aid groups and the government are scrambling to respond amid a lack of funds and growing needs. One in four people requires aid, and tens of thousands are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. 

Yet not even half of the $800 million (£650m) humanitarian response budget requested last year by aid groups was funded, according to the United Nations.

Alexandra Lamarche, a senior fellow at advocacy group Refugees International, said: “A lot of people might die, and they’re dying because they weren't able to access food and health services, because they weren’t properly protected, and the humanitarian assistance and the government response wasn’t sufficient.”

The country was the victim of two military coups last year. 

The latest military regime, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, which seized power last September, vowed to stem the insecurity, but jihadist attacks have continued to take place. 

The government retains control of less than 50 per cent of the country, largely in rural areas, according to conflict analysts. 

“The situation is very difficult … People don’t have food, children don’t have school,” said Bibata Sangli, who left the eastern town of Pama in January 2022 just before it came under siege. She still has family there who are unable to leave, Ms Sangli said.

While the humanitarian situation deteriorates, so has the ability of aid groups to operate.

Since the military takeovers of Burkina Faso’s government began in January 2022, incidents against aid organisations perpetrated by the security forces increased from one in 2021 to 11 last year, according to aid groups. 

After jihadists attacked his village in eastern Burkina Faso in April, killing people and stealing cattle, a father of five, who did not want to be identified, fled to the region’s main town of Fada N’Gourma.

But now his family does not have food or access to healthcare and the assistance supplied by humanitarian groups is not enough, he said.

“Since we’ve been displaced, our situation keeps getting worse,” the 46-year-old man said. “I miss my home.”