EUAA COI Report. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Mali

English

The purpose of the report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Mali is to provide relevant context information in view of the assessment of international protection status determination, including refugee status and subsidiary protection.

The report provides background information and mapping of FGM/C practices and trends at national and regional level in Mali. While relying on the last Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in 2018, as a starting point, the report complements, contrasts and/or corroborates it with more recent studies and research carried out and published mostly in the period 2017-2022.

The report provides details on the legal and policy framework, national statistics, trends and prevalence of the practice, societal attitudes and drivers of FGM/C and information on FGM/C performers as well as types of FGM/C. Finally, the report looks into the role of national and international organisations and NGOs, as well as into consequences and treatment of women not undergoing FGM/C.

The reference period is from 2017 to April 2022.

The drafting of this report was finalised on 2 May 2022. Some additional information was added during the finalisation phase in response to feedback received during the quality control process, until 19 May 2022.Any event taking place after this date is not included in this report.

This report was written by the Country of Origin Information (COI) Sector of the EUAA. The following departments and organisations have reviewed the report, together with EUAA:

- France, Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless persons (OFPRA), Information, Documentation and Research Division (DIDR);

- Switzerland, State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), Division Analysis and Services;

- The Netherlands, Immigration and Naturalisation Service, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis (OCILA).

This report was written according to the EUAA COI Report Methodology (2019).

Policy

The policy implemented by the Commissioner General is based on a thorough analysis of accurate and up-to-date information on the general situation in the country of origin. This information is collated in a professional manner from various, objective sources, including the EASO, the UNHCR, relevant international human rights organisations, non-governmental organisations, professional literature and coverage in the media. When determining policy, the Commissioner General does not only examine the COI Focuses written by Cedoca and published on this website, as these deal with just one aspect of the general situation in the country of origin. The fact that a COI Focus could be out-of-date does not mean that the policy that is being implemented by the Commissioner General is no longer up-to-date.

When assessing an application for asylum, the Commissioner General not only considers the actual situation in the country of origin at the moment of decision-making, he also takes into account the individual situation and personal circumstances of the applicant for international protection. Every asylum application is examined individually. An applicant must comprehensively demonstrate that he has a well-founded fear of persecution or that there is a clear personal risk of serious harm. He cannot, therefore, simply refer back to the general conditions in his country, but must also present concrete, credible and personal facts.

There is no policy paper for this country available on the website.

Land: 
Mali

Information about the asylum procedure, tailored to the asylum seeker, can be found at : asyluminbelgium.be.