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UNHCR seeks US$545 million for Nigeria and CAR crises

News Stories, 25 January 2016

© UNHCR/L. Dobbs
Young Nigerian refugees happily chase after visitors after attending a day of classes in northern Cameroon's Minawao camp.

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon, Jan 25 (UNHCR) – The UN Refugee Agency and its partners on Monday called on donor nations for more than half-a-billion US dollars this year to help hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee conflicts in Nigeria and the Central African Republic (CAR) and the host communities providing them with shelter and other basic services.

The two Regional Refugee Response Plans (RRRP), presented at a donor briefing in Yaoundé, Cameroon, include US$198.76 million for 230,000 Nigerian refugees and some 284,300 members of host communities in Niger, Chad and Cameroon as well as US$345.7 million for 476,300 CAR refugees and some 289,000 people hosting them in Chad, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo.

Both RRRPs cover needs in sectors such as protection, education, food security, health and nutrition, livelihoods, shelter, basic aid and water, hygiene and sanitation. The CAR appeal is being made by 25 organizations, including UNHCR and other UN agencies as well as NGOs.

The Nigeria appeal is made by 28 organizations. UNHCR alone is seeking US$189.54 million under the Central African Republic RRRP and US$62.33 million for the Nigeria one.

"These two humanitarian crises must not be forgotten; they are not going away. The suffering is great and the needs acute among both the displaced and host communities," said Liz Ahua, UNHCR's Regional Refugee Coordinator for the CAR and Nigeria situations.

Ahua said violence occurs on almost a daily basis in north-east Nigeria and CAR, generating fear and new displacement in the region, citing as examples suicide attacks, kidnapping, indiscriminate killings and massive human rights abuses.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we won't see it unless there is a much stronger commitment from African governments and the international community to help re-establish stability and peace," Ahua said, urging donors to give more generously. In 2015, the Nigerian RRRP received 52 per cent of its financial requirements whilst the Central African Republic RRRP received just 27 per cent.

Despite important steps towards restoring peace in both north-east Nigeria and CAR, there were also reverses and continuing significant population displacement in 2015. In Nigeria, the government rolled back Boko Haram gains, but the insurgent group turned to terror tactics that spread into neighbouring countries.

In CAR, relative peace was punctuated by waves of violence that triggered flight within the country and into the DRC, but the first round of the presidential election passed peacefully in late December with the participation of tens of thousands of refugees in Chad, Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The second round is due in February.

The crises in Nigeria and CAR will continue to provide major challenges throughout 2016 in countries such as Cameroon, which provides sanctuary and assistance to refugees from both Nigeria and CAR. For just this country, the appeals seek US$130.8 million to help 234,500 CAR refugees and almost 216,700 host community members and US$56.36 million for 100,000 Nigerian refugees and 20,000 hosts in Cameroon.

Highlighting some of the needs, Ahua said: "We need funding to prevent malnutrition among children; to run schools, build up proper sanitation systems and provide clean water; and to make sure that families have shelter over their heads."

The Nigeria and CAR regional response plans are part of the wider 2016 humanitarian appeal, asking for US$20.1 billion to reach 87 million people around the world, launched last December.

You can read the Nigeria RRRP here and the Central African Republic RRRP here.

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Crisis in the Central African Republic

Little has been reported about the humanitarian crisis in the northern part of the Central African Republic (CAR), where at least 295,000 people have been forced out of their homes since mid-2005. An estimated 197,000 are internally displaced, while 98,000 have fled to Chad, Cameroon or Sudan. They are the victims of fighting between rebel groups and government forces.

Many of the internally displaced live in the bush close to their villages. They build shelters from hay, grow vegetables and even start bush schools for their children. But access to clean water and health care remains a huge problem. Many children suffer from diarrhoea and malaria but their parents are too scared to take them to hospitals or clinics for treatment.

Cattle herders in northern CAR are menaced by the zaraguina, bandits who kidnap children for ransom. The villagers must sell off their livestock to pay.

Posted on 21 February 2008

Crisis in the Central African Republic

Central African Republic: Crossing the Oubangui to Home and Safety

The escalating violence in Central African Republic (CAR) has caught everyone in its web, including refugees from countries such as Chad, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). For the Congolese living in places like the CAR capital, Bangui, or the town of Batalimo, home was just a short trip away across the Oubangui River. UNHCR earlier this year agreed to help those who wished to repatriate due to fear for their safety. The refugee agency has since mid-January facilitated the return home of hundreds of these refugees. The following photographs, taken earlier this month by UNHCR staff members Dalia Al Achi and Hugo Reichenberger, depict the repatriation of a group of 364 Congolese. The refugees portrayed were heading to the riverside town of Zongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo's Equateur province, where they spent a night in a transit centre before continuing to their hometowns. They were relieved to be leaving, and some were in poor health. The decision to return to the country they had fled during the years of civil war from 1996-2003 was not easy. Some 6,000 of the 17,000 Congolese refugees in Central African Republic have registered with UNHCR to go home.

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2014: CAR refugees attacked as they flee to Cameroon

Each week 10,000 Muslims cross into eastern Cameroon to escape the violence consuming the Central African Republic (CAR). Many new arrivals report that they have been repeatedly attacked as they fled. The anti-Balaka militiamen have blocked main roads to Cameroon, forcing people to find alternate routes through the bush. Many are walking two to three months to reach Cameroon, arriving malnourished and bearing wounds from machetes and gunshots.

UNHCR and its partners have established additional mobile clinics at entry points to provide emergency care as refugees arrive. The UN refugee agency is also supporting public health centres that have been overwhelmed by the number of refugees and their condition.

Meanwhile, UNHCR has relocated some 20,000 refugees who had been living in the open in the Garoua Bouai and Kenzou border areas, bringing them to new sites at Lolo, Mborguene, Gado and Borgop in the East and Adamwa regions.

Since the beginning of the year, Cameroon has received nearly 70,000 refugees from CAR, adding to the 92,000 who fled in earlier waves since 2004 to escape rebel groups and bandits in the north of their country.

UNHCR staff members Paul Spiegel and Michele Poletto recently travelled to eastern Cameroon and have the following photos to share from their iPhone and camera.

2014: CAR refugees attacked as they flee to Cameroon

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