UNHCR Niger

Pour la première fois, depuis la chute du régime Ghadafi en Libye, le Niger a accordé le statut de réfugié aux demandeurs d’asile libyens. Ils étaient cinq (05) au total et ont tous reçu une réponse positive à leur demande, en même temps que des requérants d’asile en provenance de la Centrafrique, de la Syrie (initialement établis en Lybie), du Burundi, et de la République Démocratique du Congo.

Ces décisions ont été prises les 18 et 19 mai 2016 par les 17 membres de la Commission Nationale d’Eligibilité au Statut de Réfugiés (CNE) selon les lois du pays. L’UNHCR participe aux sessions de la CNE comme observateur.

Un restaurant de rue à Niamey (Photo d'illustration). RFI/Marie-Pierre Olphand

La ville de Niamey, au Niger, abrite des milliers de réfugiés maliens qui ont fui le conflit dans leur pays. Ces réfugiés, au nombre d'environ 5000, vivent en bon terme avec ces populations urbaines de la capitale nigérienne et ne sont pas encore décidés à rentrer au Mali. Un reportage de notre correspondant à Niamey.

Nigerian refugees arrive in Sayam Forage camp, an hour-drive away from Diffa town. UNHCR relocated some 1,000 Nigerian refugees in May 2016 from two settlements located along Route Nationale 1 to the refugee camp. As of May 2016, Niger was hosting some 241,000 people who have been displaced by Boko Haram’s violence since 2013 and are now living in the Diffa region. UNHCR / Helene Caux / May 2016

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva. Further information can be found on the UNHCR websites, www.unhcr.org and www.unhcr.fr, which should also be checked for regular media updates on non-briefing days.

Security and humanitarian situations worsen in Diffa, Niger, as Boko Haram continues attacks in the region

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is seeing increasing insecurity and worsening humanitarian conditions in the region of Diffa, southeastern Niger. According to government figures as of mid-May, the area was hosting over 241,000 Nigerian refugees, internally displaced people from Niger, and returning Niger nationals who had been living in Nigeria. The security situation around the towns of Diffa and Bosso, to the east, has deteriorated in recent months, with a succession of criminal incidents including suicide attacks near villages and spontaneous sites where both Nigerian refugees and the internally displaced are being sheltered.

Some 157,000 people who have fled Boko’s Haram terror have settled in 135 makeshift encampments along 200 kilometres of Route National 1, a major road that runs parallel to the border with Nigeria and the Komadougou river. Two large markets along that road have been closed since April out of fear that infiltrated insurgents could attack. This hits livelihoods and the local economy. A 7pm to 5am curfew is in force across the region, which has been under a state of emergency since February 2015.

Most of the displaced along Route National 1 fled Boko Haram attacks last year in north-eastern Nigeria. The violence spilled over at times into Niger, leaving them with no other choice than to settle along the road as surrounding villages and towns are already hosting people from previous influxes and have no more capacity. Many of these people have been displaced two or three times prior to settling along the road. Both the local and displaced communities are fearful of new attacks.

Living conditions along Route National 1 are harsh: in this remote and semi-desert environment, temperatures are reaching 48 degrees Celsius at present (the current dry season), while rains that will follow in two or three months often flood the ramshackle settlements. Shelters are made of straw, and sanitation is basic, with few latrines and showers. Many children do not have access to education because of limited schooling structures in the nearby villages, which are already overcrowded, and because of closures of many schools in insecure areas close to the border. Food supplies are irregular, and the local population is not always able to share their meagre resources with the displaced people.

Aid agencies are struggling to bring assistance to the displaced due to the highly insecure environment, the increasing number of sites – some of them remote – and a lack of funding. Of US$112 million required by 22 aid agencies including UNHCR, for operations in the Diffa region in 2016 (RRRP 2016), only $20 million has been received to date. Farmers, herders, fishermen, traders, and shopkeepers have lost their main sources of incomes as a result of the displacement and insecurity in the region. Additional funding is needed to develop livelihoods for these people, so that they can become self-reliant and once again a part of the economic development in the region.

More and more refugees and internally displaced tell us they want to move further away from the volatile border area, as they fear insurgents could attack their settlements in Niger, as they did in their villages in Nigeria and Diffa. Ten days ago, at the government’s request, UNHCR started to relocate hundreds of refugees from two spontaneous sites along Route National 1 to a camp some 50 kilometres from the border. Although most people prefer to live outside of the camps, they have decided to move for both protection reasons and for access to food and adequate services. The camp presently hosts some 3,000 people. The voluntary relocation of internally displaced people from the border areas to other areas, such as camps and other villages in Diffa region, where security is better ensured, is also planned in the near future.

In all, 2.7 million (2,674,421) people are displaced in the Lake Chad Basin area because of the violence linked to Boko Haram. 2.1 million are internally displaced in Nigeria. In addition, there are 241,256 displaced people in Niger (82,524 Nigerian refugees, 31,524 Niger returnees, 127,208 IDPs), including 157,945 along Route National 1; 270,210 displaced people are in Cameroon (64,938 Nigerian refugees, 169970 IDPs, 35,302 Cameroon returnees); And 7,337 Nigerian refugees are in Chad.

By Kieran Guilbert

DIFFA, Niger, May 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Almost a quarter-of-a-million people are living in makeshift camps in Niger’s southeast Diffa region, where Nigerians and Nigeriens alike have been uprooted by Boko Haram violence.

The Islamist militant group has ramped up attacks in Diffa after being driven further and further back into northeast Nigeria, near its borders with Chad and Niger, by a 9,000-strong regional taskforce and Nigerian and Cameroonian troops.

Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that his country was facing a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”, ahead of a panel on the Lake Chad Basin at this week’s World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

Here are the main humanitarian needs for the displaced in Diffa, according to some of the world’s leading aid agencies.

STEPHANE DOYON, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR WEST AFRICA
“Humanitarian aid is delivered mainly in parts of Diffa that agencies can reach easily, but there are many areas where there could be pockets of displaced people living without any help.

Health-wise, the low rate of immunisation among children is very worrying, and raises fears of epidemics like measles.

One of the most striking features of the displacement is that people do not feel safe. They are traumatised by what they have experienced and seen, including executions, slaughters and houses being burned down.

Many people have lost all of their possessions, and some have also lost members of their families. MSF is providing psychological support to help heal these invisible wounds.”

MOHAMMED CHIKHAOUI, NIGER COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR OXFAM
“The humanitarian situation is becoming more catastrophic by the day. The despair is read on the faces of the displaced people, refugees from Nigeria and displaced Nigeriens alike.

This crisis has come on top of two years of low harvest and challenges accessing enough staple food and fodder for animals.

The insecurity and restrictions on fishing and other livelihoods introduced by the state of emergency are making it increasingly difficult to access enough food to eat.

Friends, families and host communities do what they can to help, but there are now more mouths to feed and less food to go around and this burden is causing increasing numbers of families to fall into poverty and hunger.”

KARL STEINACKER, NIGER REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY (UNHCR)
“In terms of key challenges, with approximately 135 out-of-camp sites hosting the displaced, it is proving difficult to reach all of the vulnerable populations.

Three years after the arrival of the first refugees from Nigeria, forced displacement has become rampant in Diffa region.

People live in fear of attacks, or face embargoes on agriculture, trade and transport suspected to finance terrorism.

For the counter-insurgency to succeed, local grievances need to be taken seriously. We need to switch from hand-outs to real development so that young men are not lured to go underground and join the extremists.”

MATIAS MEIER, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC) NIGER DIRECTOR
“Displaced people and refugees generally live in fear, and are uncertain of their future. Less than five percent of them are in camps, while the rest are in host families or in spontaneous sites, where the delivery of aid is not consistent. Their current situation is really precarious. Some 100,000 displaced people in Diffa have established themselves along the main national road with self-constructed shelters that will not stand the rainy season and its winds. In addition to humanitarian assistance, aid agencies need to start large scale recovery and development programmes, to give this part of the world a chance not only to survive and thrive, but also not avoid temptations of joining insurgent groups.”

LOUKAS PETRIDIS, HEAD OF RED CROSS (ICRC) DELEGATION IN NIGER
“Access to food and water remains the top priority for these people, who are increasingly relying on humanitarian aid.

This is exacerbated by the drastic fall, driven mainly by the conflict, in the production of food and cash crops like peppers, the lack of trade with Nigeria, and very few other economic opportunities, such as fishing in the lake.

The vulnerability of these people and the difficulty of accessing health centers means diseases like malaria and diarrhea can have a devastating impact. Malnutrition remains a chronic issue and the conflict makes it even more critical.”

BENOIT THIRY, NIGER COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR THE U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP)
“We are working in a military environment which does not give us the freedom to operate as we would like to.

The security situation is not improving. For example, a couple of months ago, close to 100,000 people living along the border moved to the main highway for safety reasons. Now there is a plan to move another seven villages away from the border.

Even if these people are not in need of food aid now, such relocation will further increase their needs in the future.

The state of emergency declared in the region, along with anti-terrorist measures such as a ban on trade, and transport by motorbike are having negative impact on people’s livelihoods.” (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

© Thomson Reuters 2016 All rights reserved
Original link : http://af.reuters.com/article/nigerNews/idAFL5N18G2E5?sp=true

Les derniers chiffres du recensement de la population déplacée dans la région de Diffa, publié par le Ministère de l’Intérieur, font état de plus de 250,000 personnes réparties sur 51 sites spontanés, villages et sur les deux camps de Kabelawa et Sayam Forage. Ces chiffres incluent les réfugiés, les retournés nigériens et les déplacés interne. Ils sont inquiétants et pour autant ils restent partiels. Nombreuses zones restent à couvrir par les agents d’enregistrement de la Direction Régionale de l’Etat Civil et des Réfugiés, structure nationale en charge de cette tâche complexe. Des dizaines de petits villages et de grandes agglomérations telles que Diffa, Maine Soroa, Kablewa ou encore N’Guigmi n’ont pas encore fait l’objet de ce recensement. Dans ces villes, bien que les campements de fortune persistent, la présence visible des déplacés s’est souvent diluée sous les toits des familles hôtes. Ils sont donc toujours là. Dans le département de Bosso où plus de 43,000 déplacés ont été recensés, les résultats sont aussi partiels, une attaque kamikaze ayant précipité le départ des agents recenseurs.

Ces chiffres sont d’autant plus inquiétants si on les met en perspective avec la population de la région de Diffa : autour de 600,000 personnes. Fin 2015, la seule population déplacée en provenance du Nigeria était estimée à près de 130,000 personnes. Avec 250,000 déplacés enregistrés aujourd’hui, cela signifie plus d’une personne sur trois dans la région a été obligée d’abandonner son foyer.

Derrière ces chiffres, la situation devient encore plus préoccupante. Ils ne prennent tout d’abord pas en compte la population hôte affectée directement par la crise. Fin 2015, elle était déjà estimée à 150,000 personnes. L’accueil et la solidarité caractérise le contexte de Diffa, les ménages hôtes étant les premiers « donateurs ». Mais aujourd’hui, le tissu socio-économique de Diffa est totalement déstructuré. « L’argent ne circule plus » comme l’on dit communément au Niger. L’accueil devient toujours plus complexe. Les mouvements massifs causés par l’insécurité enregistrée ces derniers mois ont vu des populations quitter des zones aux services de base précaires vers des zones sans aucun service. Le renforcement des infrastructures existantes était avant cela l’une des stratégies d’intervention des humanitaires. Aujourd’hui, dans nombreux sites, il faut remettre en place l’ensemble des services (eau, sante, éducation) mais aujourd’hui aussi l’argent ne circule pas chez les humanitaires. Début 2016, et alors que depuis la situation s’est encore dégradée, l’UNHCR et 24 autres organisations humanitaires lancaient un appel pour la crise nigériane. Pour le Niger, les besoins humanitaires étaient de plus de 112,000,000 USD. Seul 20% ont été mobilisés jusqu’ici. La solidarité à Diffa est forte, mais il est nécessaire de l’accompagner au plus vite.

Pour plus d’information :
http://data.unhcr.org/SahelSituation/download.php?id=1963
http://data.unhcr.org/SahelSituation/download.php?id=1960

Le stand des artisans réfugiés lors des journées de l’artisanat

Tazalite, Intikane, Tabareybarey, Mangaize et Niamey. Tous les groupements d’artisans réfugiés maliens sont représentés aux journées de l’Artisanat qui se tiennent en ce moment dans la capitale nigérienne. Tous sauf les groupements d’Abala, sans stock. Avoir du stock suppose d’assurer la régularité des achats de matières premières. Cela suppose aussi en amont que le niveau des ventes permette de réinjecter les fonds nécessaires pour maintenir le rythme de production et cela sans risque pour l’activité et les besoins du ménage. Malgré la permanence d’un système de cotisation au niveau des groupements, la prise de risque est aujourd’hui impossible. Les produits, de grande qualité, sont aujourd’hui souvent bradés.

Lorsqu’ils étaient au Mali, assurer la permanence d’un stock n’était pas un problème. Joaillerie, maroquinerie, sculpture sur bois, l’artisanat Touareg est particulièrement reconnu. On ne trouvera pas un salon de l’artisanat en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Nord sans un stand qui y est consacré. Leur réseau en Europe est aussi dense. « Lorsqu’il y avait une foire à l’étranger, nous nous organisions pour constituer ensemble suffisamment de stock. On se cotisait aussi pour envoyer les produits à l’étranger et même assurer le transport, parfois en avion, pour l’un d’entre nous » explique Agidid artisan du camp Mangaize. Il rajoute : « une fois j’étais en France dans une foire et mon voisin de stand, un Sénégalais qui n’avait pas ses papiers, me demandait pourquoi je n’en profitais pas pour rester. Je lui avais répondu que je n’avais pas besoin de ça car j’étais bien au Mali et que je gagnais bien ma vie ». Agidid sort alors un carnet avec des photos de ces anciennes œuvres dont des « trônes » achetés par certains chefs d’état africains parmi lesquels Mouammar Kadhafi.

A gauche, le siège acheté par Muhammad Kadhafi

Le conflit dans le Nord Mali a provoqué une rupture brutale de leurs activités et de leur réseau, si précieux pour les artisans. « Lorsque la guerre a éclaté, nous avons fui sans rien prendre, même pas un bout de papier. Nous avons perdu tous les numéros de la plupart de nos contacts en Afrique et en Europe ».

Au niveau de leur stand à Niamey, les réfugiés artisans ont reçu la visite et les encouragements du Ministre Nigérien de Tourisme et de l’Artisanat et de l’Ambassadrice des États-Unis au Niger. L’Ambassadrice a d’ailleurs promis d’y envoyer une délégation. Apres quelques journées, la recette n’est pas mirobolante. Le marché de l’artisanat au Niger est d’ailleurs moribond depuis que l’insécurité a anéanti l’industrie touristique. Mais pour les artisans réfugiés, l’essentiel est ailleurs : pouvoir exposer de nouveau leurs produits, se retrouver et échanger sur leur situation. Après le dernier jour d’exposition, rendez-vous est déjà pris avec l’UNHCR pour continuer à rechercher des solutions pratiques. Les représentants des artisans d’Abala vont venir à Niamey pour l’occasion.