Around 500 Fulani herders, traveling with an estimated 10,000 heads of cattle, left Mali and returned to their native Niger as a result of inter-communal tensions in Gao region (north of Mali).

During the night of 17-18 November 2013, family members of a Touareg community leader were killed near Ansongo (Gao region, northern Mali). These events led to inter-communal tensions, even retaliation against members of the Fulani ethnic group.
 
The governor of Tillabery region, UNHCR and other partners carried out on 26 and 27 November two quick evaluation missions on the Niger side of the border with Mali in the area surrounding the location of Inates. These joint missions met around 50 families representing some 500 persons (including 387 children) traveling with their animals.  These nomads (Fulani in English / Peulh in French) seasonally cross the border in search of grazing grounds for their cattle. They were in Mali when the murder happened and decided to immediately migrate back to Niger as they feared retaliation against their community.

In Inates, they found security indeed, but the humanitarian situation is precarious as resources for both humans and animals become strained. Water is one critical need, as the single borehole available in does not supply enough water. Food aid and capacitating the local health center to provide essential healthcare and vaccination are also a priority. UNHCR and partners are looking into ways to provide relief assistance and monitoring further displacement in the area.

The incident shows the volatility of the security situation still prevailing in northern Mali.

Children represent the vast majority of the displaced: 387 of them including 110 under the age of 5, have crossed into Niger with their families and livestock, interrupting their seasonal pastoralist migration routes./Inates, Tillaberi region/27 November 2013/UNHCR.