Malian Refugees Leave Camps in Mauritania

Returning home after French-led intervention

Tens of thousands of Malians, mainly ethnic Tuaregs, fled into Mauritania last year after a mixture of separatists and jihadi groups seized control of their home towns. The militants have since been ousted by a French-led campaign and the refugees are starting to plan their return home, as the BBC's Thomas Fessy reports from Mberra camp.

Mohammad Ag Mohammed Hamma is growing impatient. His face almost entirely covered by a washed blue turban, the village chief of Tin-Telout, on the outskirts of Timbuktu, cannot bear this "undignified life" any more.