The aid effort to help over 147,000 Malian refugees could be overwhelmed as conflict escalates, unless there is a significant shift in the way aid operations are carried out. With the escalation of the conflict, including an offensive by armed groups controlling the north, the recent intervention of French and Malian armed forces and with the UN mandated African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) operation set to be deployed, Oxfam warns that the already dire situation for tens of thousands of Malians could get much worse.