The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees has issued a joint call on donors for $34m to fund urgent
operations to help tens of thousands of Nigerian refugees fleeing from
Boko Haram insurgents into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.+
According to a statement issued by the
UN’s refugee agency on Tuedsay, the fund will also cater to the needs of
thousands more expected to arrive in the three neighbouring countries
by the year’s end.
“The Nigeria Refugee Response Plan,
presented to donors on Tuesday, covers the most immediate protection and
assistance needs of up to 95,000 people fleeing Nigeria until the end
of the year. Given the upsurge in violence, these numbers will probably
need to be revised upwards,” the agency said.
The spokesman for the agency, Babar
Baloch, told journalists in Geneva that more than 11,000 refugees
crossed into Cameroon and Chad in August. Some 15,000 people have
arrived in Niger’s Diffa region since the beginning of August, many of
whom have settled on the islands of Lake Chad.
“In Cameroon, the newly arrived are
occupying school buildings and churches; some are staying with host
families and others are living in the open and sleeping rough. The high
prevalence of respiratory infections among children is of great concern.
“Over the past weekend, newly arrived
refugees told our teams at the border area that insurgents had attacked
their villages in the areas of Gwoza, Bama, Pulka and Idagala in Borno
State and stole everything before burning their houses. Some refugees
are seriously traumatised, having seen their relatives being brutally
killed,” he added.
Being afraid of cross-border attacks in
Cameroon, “We have started to transfer the newly arrived refugees to the
refugee camp in Minawao, some 120 kilometres further inland. Since the
last week of August, nearly 8,000 refugees have been transferred to the
camp, which now hosts over 13,000 people,” the UNHCR spokesman said.
However, the UNHCR said that the
volatile security situation in Cameroon’s Far North region hampered the
relocation efforts and more than 13,000 refugees have remained at the
border with Nigeria. In total, Cameroon is hosting some 43,700 Nigerian
refugees, according to authorities, including 26,753 refugees who have
been registered by the UNHCR.
The statement added, “In Niger, a
growing number of people continue to arrive, with more than 70 per cent
of them being women and children. An escalation of the violence in
Nigeria and the threat on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of
Borno State, would lead to an even greater influx into neighbouring
countries. Some Chadian nationals are also arriving, transiting through
Niger to return to their country.”
