UNHCR concern over refugee returns to Nigeria / refugees continue arriving in Chad and Niger.

Briefing Notes, 16 January 2015

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 16 January 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR is very concerned about the return to Nigeria from Niger on 14 January of hundreds of refugees in a joint operation organized by the Governor of Borno State in Nigeria and the authorities in Niger. According to information received by UNHCR, the refugees were transported in 9 buses to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in Nigeria. Another 11 buses are currently parked in the town of Gagamari in Niger's Diffa region, waiting to take more refugees back to Nigeria. Given the volatile security situation in Borno state and the recent attacks by insurgents, UNHCR is concerned about the nature of these returns and has asked the authorities to stop this operation until there are proper safeguards and a legal framework between Nigeria, Niger and UNHCR.

Refugees fleeing the brutal conflict in north-east Nigeria continue to arrive in Niger and Chad telling harrowing tales of killings and destruction. Our teams said that refugees told them about the extreme violence they suffered or witnessed during the attacks on the town of Baga on 3 and 7 January. A woman, who ran away from Baga with her five children and her husband, said she saw insurgents run over women and children with their cars, shoot at people and use knives to cut their throats in the street. She estimated that hundreds had been killed in Baga. The terrified family managed to escape at night before reaching Maiduguri, from where they took a bus to Niger.

In all, some 13,000 Nigerian refugees have arrived in western Chad since the attacks on Baga earlier this month. UNHCR and the governmental Commission Nationale d'Accueil, et de Réinsertion des Réfugiés et des Rapatriés (CNARR) have registered over 6,000 refugees so far. Dozens of refugees continue to arrive every day, many by canoe over Lake Chad to areas such as Ngouboua and Bagasola, some 450 kilometres north-west of the Chadian capital N'djamena. Including the latest influx some 16,000 Nigerian refugees have arrived in Chad since May 2013. We are concerned that refugees from Baga and the surrounding area are choosing to flee over the lake into Chad as this may indicate that the overland route into Niger is blocked by insurgents.

Our teams in Chad report that they have identified 104 unaccompanied children, who have been separated from their families while fleeing the attacks in Baga. They have been placed in foster families while waiting to be reunited with their own.

At the same time, we have started the relocation of some 2,000 refugees who were stranded on the Lake Chad's islands of Koulfoua and Kangalam, to the newly opened site of Dar Es Salam, near Bagasola. The site, which presently hosts some 1,600 refugees is located 70 kilometres from the border with Nigeria and will be able to accommodate up to 15,000 people.

The attacks on Baga have also pushed some 572 people to flee to Niger's Diffa region – with some of them having first crossed through Chad before reaching Niger.

Since the state of emergency was declared in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in north-eastern Nigeria in May 2013, an estimated 153,000 people have fled to the neighbouring countries. To date, UNHCR has registered over 37,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroon, some 16,000 people have arrived in Chad, and the authorities in Niger estimate that more than 100,000 people, both Nigerian refugees and Niger nationals, have arrived from the war-torn North-east of Nigeria. In 2015 alone, the violence has led to an exodus of 19,000 people.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

  • In Dakar (Regional), Helene Caux on mobile + 221 77 333 1291
  • In Chad, Massoumeh Farman-Farmaian on mobile +235 68 00 05 30
  • In Niger, Karl Steinacker on mobile: + 227 921 931 46
  • In Geneva, William Spindler on mobile +41 79 217 3011
• DONATE NOW •

 

• GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

Related Stories

more documents

UNHCR country pages

Victims of Conflict in Nigeria Find Safety in Cameroon Camp

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres visited Cameroon in late March to put a spotlight on the situation there of tens of thousands of refugees from Nigeria. These people have escaped mounting violence by insurgents in the north-east of their country. Among the places that Guterres visited during his March 24-25 visit is the Minawao Refugee Camp, where many of the uprooted have been relocated.

Situated some 120 kilometres from the dangerous border area with Nigeria in Cameroon's Far North region, Minawao camp is currently home to 33,000 Nigerian refugees, mainly from Borno state. Many of the arrivals are traumatized and in need of material and psycho-social help. They told the High Commissioner of losing their homes and belongings as well as members of their families. Some were injured. In total, an estimated 74,000 Nigerians have found refuge in Cameroon while cross-border incursions from Nigeria have displaced 96,000 Cameroonians. UNHCR photographer Hélène Caux also visited Minawao to hear the individual stories.

Victims of Conflict in Nigeria Find Safety in Cameroon Camp

New refugees from Central African Republic struggle with ration cuts in southern Chad

Since January 2014, a funding shortfall has forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to cut food rations by 60 per cent in refugee camps in southern Chad. The reduction comes as thousands of refugees from Central African Republic (CAR) continue to arrive in the south - more than 14,000 of them since the beginning of 2014. Many arrive sick, malnourished and exhausted after walking for months in the bush with little food or water. They join some 90,000 other CAR refugees already in the south - some of them for years.

The earlier refugees have been able to gain some degree of self-reliance through agriculture or employment, thus making up for some of the food cuts. But the new arrivals, fleeing the latest round of violence in their homeland, are facing a much harsher reality. And many of them - particularly children - will struggle to survive because WFP has also been forced cut the supplemental feeding programmes used to treat people trying to recover from malnutrition.

WFP needs to raise US$ 186 million to maintain feeding programmes for refugees in Africa through the end of the year. Additionally, UNHCR is urgently seeking contributions towards the US$ 78 million it has budgeted this year for food security and nutrition programmes serving refugees in Africa.

Photojournalist Corentin Fohlen and UNHCR Public Information Officer Céline Schmitt visited CAR refugees in southern Chad to document their plight and how they're trying to cope.

New refugees from Central African Republic struggle with ration cuts in southern Chad

Food cuts in Chad camps expose refugee women and children to exploitation, abuse

A funding shortfall has forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to cut food rations in refugee camps in eastern Chad by up to 60 per cent. As a result, Sudanese refugees in 13 camps in the east now receive about 850 calories per day, down from the minimum ration of 2,100 calories daily they used to get. The refugees are finding it difficult to cope. Clinics in the area report a significant spike in malnutrition cases, with rates as high as 19.5 per cent in Am Nabak camp.

WFP needs to raise US$ 186 million to maintain feeding programmes for refugees in Africa through the end of the year. Additionally, UNHCR is urgently seeking contributions towards the US$ 78 million it has budgeted this year for food security and nutrition programmes serving refugees in Africa.

In the meantime, the refugees experiencing ration cuts have few options. Poor soil quality, dry conditions and little access to water mean they can't plant supplemental crops as refugees in the less arid south of Chad are able to do. To try to cope, many refugee women in eastern Chad are leaving the camps in search of work in surrounding towns. They clean houses, do laundry, fetch water and firewood and work as construction labourers. Even so, they earn very little and often depend on each other for support. In the town of Iriba, for example, some 50 refugee women sleep rough each night under a tree and share their some of their meagre earnings to pay for a daily, communal meal.

They are also subject to exploitation. Sometimes, their temporary employers refuse to pay them at the end of the day. And some women and girls have resorted to prostitution to earn money to feed their families.

Ration cuts can have an impact far beyond health, reverberating through the entire community. It is not uncommon for children to be pulled out of school on market days in order to work. Many refugees use a portion of their food rations to barter for other essentials, or to get cash to pay school fees or buy supplies for their children. Small business owners like butchers, hairdressers and tailors - some of them refugees - also feel the pinch.

WFP supplies food to some 240,500 Sudanese refugees in the camps of eastern Chad. Many have been in exile for years and, because of their limited opportunities for self-sufficiency, remain almost totally dependent on outside help. The ration cuts have made an already difficult situation much worse for refugees who were already struggling.

Food cuts in Chad camps expose refugee women and children to exploitation, abuse

Nigeria: Back to schoolPlay video

Nigeria: Back to school

When gun-toting Boko Haram insurgents attacked villages in north-eastern Nigeria, thousands of children fled to safety. They now have years of lessons to catch up on as they return to schools, some of which now double as camps for internally displaced people or remain scarred by bullets.
Nigeria: Homeless in their own countryPlay video

Nigeria: Homeless in their own country

Boko Haram's bloody insurgency made at least two million Nigerians homeless in their own country. As large swathes of the northeast remain no-go areas, UNHCR and other partners are providing vital aid, including bedding and cooking utensils to those driven into internal exile.
Lake Chad: The New Normal Of ConflictPlay video

Lake Chad: The New Normal Of Conflict

The nations surrounding Lake Chad, one of Africa's largest freshwater lakes, are seeing an insurgency that began in Nigeria spread to their shores,. The total number of people in the region who have either fled across borders to escape violence, or been made homeless in their own countries, has now reached over 2.5 million people.