They fled from extremists. Now the government in Burkina Faso tries to hide their existence

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Their loved ones were slaughtered by Islamic extremists or government-affiliated fighters. Their villages were attacked, their homes destroyed. Exhausted and traumatized, they fled in search of safety, food and shelter.

This is the reality for over 2.1 million displaced people across the West African nation of Burkina Faso, torn apart by years of extreme violence.

But unlike others displaced in the region, they are seen as a challenge to Burkina Faso's military junta that took power two years ago on the pledge of bringing stability. Their existence contradicts its official narrative: that security is improving and people are safely returning home.

Those who fled to Ouagadougou, the capital, which has been shielded from violence, find fear instead of respite. They are made into shadows, with many resorting to begging. Most of them are not entitled to support from authorities, and international aid organizations are not authorized to work with them.

The Associated Press reached out to several international aid groups, Western diplomats and the United Nations. None would speak on the record about the issue.

With no official displacement sites in Ouagadougou, no one knows how many people shelter in the capital or sleep on the streets. A rare acknowledgement of their existence by authorities noted 30,000 last year.

But aid groups say real numbers are much higher. And as violence increases, and people crowd displacement sites in the country's remote north and east, exposed to hunger and disease, more are expected to arrive in the capital.

One aid worker, speaking like others on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, described the situation as “a ticking bomb.”

The AP interviewed four displaced people in Ouagadougou. All spoke at great risk. Three are with the Fulani ethnic group, which authorities accuse of being affiliated with Islamic insurgents. All three said they have faced discrimination in the capital, with trouble finding jobs and sending children to school.

For decades, the Fulani were neglected by the central government, and some did join miitants. As a result, Fulani civilians are often targeted both by the extremists — affiliated with al-Qaida or the Islamic State group — and by rival pro-government forces.

A 27-year-old Fulani cattle trader from Djibo, a city besieged by armed groups since 2022, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from authorities, said government-affiliated forces indiscriminately treated all Fulani in the area as extremists.

“They started arresting people, bringing them to the city, beating them, undressing them. It was humiliating," he said. His uncle spent seven months in prison because he received aid from a charity run by extremists in part to spread their ideology.

He said he was arrested once in Djibo and beaten by the military, with injuries so extensive that he went to the hospital. He said soldiers told him only that they were “conducting a security operation.”

According to analysts, the junta's strategy of military escalation, including mass recruitment of civilians for poorly trained militia units, has exacerbated tensions between ethnic groups. Data gathered by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project show that militia attacks on civilians significantly increased since Capt. Ibrahim Traore took power.

The violence has radicalized some Fulanis, the cattle trader said.

“Every day, you prayed to live through the next 24 hours," he said. “This is not a life.”

He did not want to flee and leave his parents behind. But one day, his father woke him and said: “You have to leave, because if you stay, someone will just come and kill you.”

His father was later killed.

He left in a military convoy over a year ago. Life in Ouagadougou is “very difficult,” he said. He lives with extended family and relies on odd jobs to get by.

“There are mornings when I wake up and ask myself how will I get something to eat,” he said. “I used to live with dignity.”

His mother has joined him in the capital. They have not received support from the government.

A 28-year-old mother from the northwest, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said at first the extremists came to her village and stole cattle. But last summer, they came to the market and killed several men, including her husband. Then they ordered women and children to leave.

She grabbed her children, and cooking pots, and fled. She walked for hours through the night until she reached her husband’s family home.

Ten days later, armed men were approaching. She strapped her 2-year-old daughter to her back, grabbed her 4-year-old son and left for the capital.

She said she has not received government support in Ouagadougou. She was promised a job as a cleaner but lost the offer once the employer found out she was Fulani.

She secured a place at a rare shelter for displaced women, run with Western-supplied funds by a local activist who tries to keep a low profile. She is learning how to sew and has enrolled her son in school.

“I miss my village,” she said. “But for the moment I have to wait until the violence is over.”

Her stay is precarious. The shelter is full, hosting 50 women and children. Usually, they are allowed to stay for one year. Time is running out.

The demand is enormous, the activist said, and there is less and less aid. Local authorities are wary of anyone working with displaced people.

“I don’t know for how much longer I can keep on going,” she said.

As much as 80% of Burkina Faso's territory is controlled by extremist groups and more civilians died from violence last year than in the years before, but in Ouagadougou, it is easy to forget that the government is battling an insurgency.

Busy open-air restaurants serve beer and the national dish of slowly roasted chicken. In recent months, the capital hosted a theater festival and an international arts and crafts fair. The authorities reinstated a cross-country cycling race, Tour de Faso, previously cancelled due to insecurity.

The military leadership has installed a system of de facto censorship, rights groups said, and those daring to speak up can be openly abducted, imprisoned or forcefully drafted into the army.

Burkina Faso used to be known for its vibrant intellectual life. Now, even friends are afraid to discuss politics.

“I feel like I am in prison,” said a local women’s rights activist. “Everyone distrusts each other. We fought for the freedom of speech, and now we lost everything.”

Burkina Faso's authorities did not respond to questions.

This story corrects the number of the displaced.

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FILE - People ride their scooters in the Gounghin district of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Sophie Garcia, File)

FILE - A mural reading "Stay vigilant and mobilized" is seen in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, March 1, 2023. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - An aerial view shows a camp of internally displaced people in Djibo, Burkina Faso, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

FILE - Burkina Faso junta leader Ibrahim Traore participates in a ceremony in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Oct. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Kilaye Bationo, File)

FILE - Internally displaced people wait for aid in Djibo, Burkina Faso, May 26, 2022, when violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group began surging and spreading across the West African nation. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation after facing an increasing loss of support both within his party and in the country.

Now Trudeau's Liberal Party must find a new leader while dealing with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threats to impose steep tariffs on Canadian goods and with Canada's election just months away.

Trudeau said Monday he plans to stay on as prime minister until a new party leader is chosen.

He could not recover after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, long one of his most powerful and loyal ministers, resigned from the Cabinet last month.

Trudeau, the 53-year-old scion of Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s most famous prime ministers, became deeply unpopular with voters over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing as well as surging immigration.

A new Canadian leader is unlikely to be named before Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The political upheaval comes at a difficult moment for Canada. Trump keeps calling Canada the 51st state and has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods if the government does not stem what Trump calls a flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S. — even though far fewer of them cross the border from Canada than from Mexico, which Trump has also threatened with tariffs.

Trump also remains preoccupied with the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, erroneously calling it a subsidy. Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, has said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year. But she noted that a third of what Canada sells to the U.S. are energy exports and that there is a deficit when oil prices are high.

If Trump applies tariffs, a trade war looms. Canada has vowed to retaliate.

The Liberals need to elect a new leader before Parliament resumes March 24 because all three opposition parties say they will bring down the Liberal government in a no-confidence vote at the first opportunity, which would trigger an election. The new leader might not be prime minister for long.

A spring election would very likely favor the opposing Conservative Party.

It’s not often that central bank governors get compared to rock stars. But Mark Carney, the former head of the Bank of Canada, was considered just that in 2012 when he was named the first foreigner to serve as governor of the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694. The appointment of a Canadian won bipartisan praise in Britain after Canada recovered faster than many other countries from the 2008 financial crisis. He gained a reputation along the way as a tough regulator.

Few people in the world have Carney’s qualifications. He is a highly educated economist with Wall Street experience who is widely credited with helping Canada dodge the worst of the 2008 global economic crisis and helping the U.K. manage Brexit. Carney has long been interested in entering politics and becoming prime minister but lacks political experience.

Freeland is also a front-runner. Trudeau told Freeland last month he no longer wanted her to serve as finance minister but that she could remain deputy prime minister and the point person for U.S.-Canada relations. An official close to Freeland said Freeland couldn’t continue serving as a minister knowing she no longer enjoyed Trudeau's confidence. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The person added it's far too early to make declarations but said Freeland would talk to her colleagues this week and discuss next steps.

After she resigned, Trump called Freeland “totally toxic" and "not at all conducive to making deals." Freeland is many things that would seem to irritate Trump: a liberal Canadian former journalist. She is a globalist who sits on the board of the World Economic Forum. Freeland, who is of Ukrainian heritage, also has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Another possible candidate is the new finance minister, Dominic LeBlanc. The former public safety minister, and a close friend of Trudeau, LeBlanc recently joined the prime minister at a dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. LeBlanc was Trudeau's babysitter when Trudeau was a child.

Recent polls suggest the Liberals' chances of winning the next election look slim. In the latest poll by Nanos, the Liberals trail the opposition Conservatives 47% to 21%.

“Trudeau’s announcement might help the Liberals in the polls in the short run and, once a new leader is selected, things could improve further at least for a little while but that would not be so hard because, right now, they’re so low in the polls,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.

“Moreover, because Trudeau waited so long to announce his resignation, this will leave little time to his successor and the party to prepare for early elections,” Béland said.

Many analysts say Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will form the next government. Poilievre, for years the party’s go-to attack dog, is a firebrand populist who blamed Canada’s cost of living crisis on Trudeau. The 45-year-old Poilievre is a career politician who attracted large crowds during his run for his party's leadership. He has vowed to scrap a carbon tax and defund the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - Mark Carney, who has served as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, speaks at the Sustainable Finance conference, Nov. 28, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for a photo as Trudeau arrives at the White House in Washington, on Oct. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland gives Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a hug after being sworn in during ceremonies at Rideau Hall, on Nov. 4, 2015, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau speaks to supporters during a campaign stop in Toronto on Aug. 17, 2015. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press via AP, File)