Every other day, at dawn, before the Mauritanian desert's heat becomes scorching, Thiaye (all first names have been changed), a Malian refugee, walks 10 kilometers on foot, his head wrapped in a white cheche. At a brisk pace, the octogenarian makes his way through the sandy paths of the Malian refugee camp in Mbera, located more than 1,200 kilometers east of the capital, Nouakchott.

Reflected in his dark glasses were rows of tin shacks and tents bearing the "UNHCR" logo of the United Nations Refugee Agency. "Over there, the new arrivals' shelters make the camp's edges very narrow," said the retired mathematics teacher. "This new neighborhood, we call it 'Wagner,'" he said, referring to those displaced by abuses committed by the Malian army and its Russian allies.

Between 2022 and 2025, the number of Malians arriving in Mauritania more than doubled, according to the UNHCR, rising from 70,000 to 160,000, and even to 245,000 according to Nouakchott – not all of whom have refugee status. The majority have settled in the border region of Hodh Ech-Chargui, one of the poorest in the country, in and around the Mbera camp.

You have 85.96% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.