Global Overview 2015: People internally displaced by conflict and violence - West Africa

Figures of displacement

As of the end of 2014, there were at least 1.5 million IDPs across eight west African countries: Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. Nigeria had the largest number with at least a million, followed by Côte d'Ivoire with just over 300,000 and Mali with at least 61,000. We reported displacement in Cameroon for the first time, after crossborder attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram forced at least 40,000 people to flee their homes.^[106]

Improvements in data collection led us to increase our cumulative estimate for Côte d'Ivoire four-fold and reduce our figure for Nigeria by 70 per cent. The latter is likely to be an underestimate, given that the assessments were not conducted country-wide nor did they cover situations of protracted displacement, but at year end it was the most reliable figure available (see page 85). In the absence of new data, our estimates for Liberia, Niger, Senegal and Togo remain unchanged.

Nigeria was worst affected by new displacement in 2014. Increasingly brutal attacks by Boko Haram intensified dramatically in the second half of the year, causing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the north-east that spilled over into neighbouring countries. Its attacks and abductions, heavy-handed counterinsurgency operations against it and inter-communal violence displaced at least 975,300 people.^[107] Data gathered in the north-eastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe revealed nearly 75,000 people displaced by inter-communal violence during the year.^[108]

The majority of assistance targeted IDPs taking refuge in camps and camplike settings, but 92.4 per cent were living with host families.^[109] Boko Haram's attacks and abductions also drove at least 150,000 people across the border into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.^[110] The group has abducted at least 500 people in north-eastern Nigeria since 2009,^[111] and such abuses escalated exponentially in 2014. IDPs cited fear of abduction as a key factor in their decision to flee.^[112]

In Côte d'Ivoire, a pervasive climate of fear and inter-communal mistrust pervaded in the west of the country, where recurrent clashes and cross-border attacks by armed groups along the Liberian border continued to force thousands of people to flee their homes. We estimate that such clashes have displaced at least 33,800 people since 2012, including more than 5,500 people who fled from Fetai and surrounding villages in 2014.^[113] Tensions also simmered in northern Mali, where militants' increasingly frequent attacks forced at least 19,000 people to uproot their families and seek safety elsewhere.^[114]

Causes of displacement

Displacement across the region as a whole was caused by extremist violence, political power struggles, disputes over natural resources and inter-communal conflict often linked to land tenure. Conflicts have shifted from one country to another over the last two decades, and Boko Haram's insurgency took on a more regional dimension in 2014. A common pattern also emerged in which the marginalisation and underdevelopment of certain areas fuels north-south divisions and leads to surges in violence that force large numbers of people to flee within and across borders.

Poverty, increasing inequality and social frustration in northern Nigeria form the backdrop to Boko Haram's expansion, as it carries out unrelenting attacks on civilians in its campaign to establish an independent Islamic state. Communal tensions along ethnic and religious fault-lines have also sparked violence throughout the underdeveloped north and Middle Belt, the dividing line between Nigeria's Muslim north and wealthier Christian south.

Mali continued its slow recovery from the crisis triggered in 2012 by Islamist armed groups' occupation of the north, a region historically neglected. By the end of 2014, a third round of unsuccessful peace negotiations had concluded and armed groups continued to seek self-rule from the south to overcome economic and political marginalisation.^[115]

Recent clashes in Côte d'Ivoire have long-standing roots in west Africa's "regional conflict" in the 1990s. Charles Taylor's armed rebellion in northern Liberia plunged the region into progressive destabilisation that displaced more than three million people over the following decades, most of them internally.^[116] Taylor also had a direct role in setting up armed groups that led a coup in Côte d'Ivoire in 2002,^[117] which effectively split the country in half and kindled a north-south divide for the following decade.

Data collection

Information on the extent to which IDPs have achieved durable solutions is all but absent in west Africa, but improvements in data collection in 2014 shone a light on other aspects of displacement in the region.

In Nigeria, IOM set up its displacement tracking matrix to support the government in collecting and disseminating data on IDPs. Teams composed of members of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the state emergency management agencies and the Nigerian Red Cross Society identified 997,300 IDPs in the north-eastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe as of the end of 2014.^[118] The majority of people covered by the exercise cited Boko Haram's insurgency as the reason for their flight, while a smaller number said they had fled inter-communal clashes. NEMA also collected data on IDPs in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa and Plateau, and an assessment by the National Commission for Refugees (NCFR) revealed IDPs living in Benue and Ebonyi states. We combined information from all three sources to arrive at our estimate for the country of at least 1,075,300 IDPs.

The establishment of IOM's displacement tracking matrix and the estimates from NEMA and NCFR provided some clarity about the volatile and rapidly evolving situation in the north-east. Access restrictions still prevented reliable data being collected for some areas, notably in Borno state where only three out of 27 local government areas were accessible. There are also undoubtedly many people living in protracted displacement in other parts of the country who were not captured by the assessments. Data collected on people fleeing inter-communal violence in the Middle Belt was inconsistent and incomplete,^[119] and there was no official and impartial forum dedicated to sharing and analysing data for the country as a whole. The lack of a holistic understanding of displacement dynamics in Nigeria resulted in a fragmented and inadequate humanitarian and development response to those in need.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the government and UNHCR carried out a profiling exercise in 2014 with technical support from JIPS. The exercise focused on urban centres and areas in the west of the country most affected by displacement, and revealed that more than 2.3 million people had been displaced since 2002, of whom up to 300,900 were still to achieve durable solutions.^[120] This figure was considerably higher than previous estimates. Sixty-two per cent of the country's IDPs live in the capital Abidjan.^[121]

Protection issues

IDPs caught up in the region's unfolding emergencies and conflicts faced many protection threats in 2014. Thousands of people in Mali, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria in particular were exposed to risks to their physical security including armed attacks and clashes, forced recruitment, arbitrary killings, sexual violence and abductions.

IDPs in north-eastern Nigeria also had their freedom of movement restricted, in some cases severely. Boko Haram's proclamation of a caliphate in parts of Adamawa and Borno trapped people in those areas, with reports of those trying to flee being summarily executed.^[122] As the insurgents fought the security forces for the control of main roads, civilians were often forced to flee to the surrounding forests, where many lost their way and some died of hunger and thirst.^[123] The fact that IDPs often have to pay to pass through Boko Haram checkpoints also steered people towards the forests, and away from areas where they may have been more likely to receive assistance.^[124]

Gender-based violence has been a feature of Boko Haram's attacks, and its members have systematically abused the women and girls it has abducted. As the number of IDPs living in camps in the north-east increased during 2014, there were reports of rape and the trafficking of hundreds of girls, particularly those unregistered.^[125] There were also reports of "discipline committees" meting out corporal punishment to displaced women.^[126] Children make up a disproportionate 58 per cent of IDPs living in camps in the north-east.^[127]

Many IDPs continued to face protection risks even once they had returned to their places of origin, preventing them from achieving durable solutions. In Côte d'Ivoire, returns were marred by land disputes, some of which led to violence.^[128] Government-sanctioned evictions from protected forests in the west and southwest of the country continued to be a threat to thousands of people.^[129]

In Mali, people going back to their homes in the north often found their return to be unsustainable as a result of insecurity that continues to strain the country's social fabric. Many who would have returned to rural areas have instead made their way to urban centres thought to be safer.^[130]

Displaced children, who account for more than half of west Africa's IDPs, are particularly exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation. There is a tradition in the region of confiage, sending children from rural areas to live and work in the urban households of extended family members, but separations prompted by displacement have left many to cope on their own.

In Nigeria, vulnerable IDPs in Adamawa state, including children, are thought to have resorted to survival sex to meet their basic needs.^[131] Young men and boys, particularly those who are separated or unaccompanied, risk forced recruitment into Boko Haram's ranks in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.^[132] Self-defence groups in north-eastern Nigeria, including the Civilian Joint Task Force formed to protect the capital of Borno state, are also reported to use child fighters.^[133]

The degree of brutality in Mali and Nigeria has left many people with symptoms of extreme stress and psychological trauma that have gone unaddressed and untreated. Many children are terrified of loud noises that remind them of the violence they witnessed.^[134]

Access to education continued to be a major challenge in northern Mali. More than 80 per cent of teaching staff in Timbuktu region were displaced during the 2012 crisis,^[135] and schools in Kidal region relied on volunteers because no state teachers had resumed their posts.^[136] Attendance rates in Nigeria declined dramatically as Boko Haram stepped up its attacks on schools.^[137] Given that many IDPs shelter in school buildings, and humanitarian assistance tends to be limited to life-saving interventions, displaced children are generally unable to pursue their education.

Many IDPs in Nigeria's north-east and Middle Belt, northern Mali and western Côte d'Ivoire have been displaced more than once, but information on their situation is scarce. Repeated displacement increases households' needs and reduces their coping strategies, but those affected have not received commensurate assistance, leaving many unable to recover from their plight.

Durable solutions

Ten west African countries have ratified the Kampala Convention,^[138] but displacement in the region still tends to be addressed as a short-term and humanitarian issue, with minimal resources dedicated to helping IDPs return, integrate locally or settle elsewhere in the country. The lack of focus on durable solutions and the absence in many cases of countrywide monitoring means little information is available about IDPs living in protracted displacement. There is evidence, however, to suggest that they face significant obstacles in exercising their human rights, particularly in terms of physical security, property and livelihoods.

Continuing insecurity in northern Nigeria, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire prevents many IDPs from returning safely and sustainably. Those who did go back to their homes often found themselves at risk of being displaced again, or without the basic services needed to support their reintegration. Mali saw more returns than any other country in the region in 2014. As many as 178,400 IDPs went back to the north,^[139] often pushed to do so by dire conditions in their places of refuge in the south.

Access to land, restitution and tenure security are among the many challenges IDPs face in making their returns sustainable. Returning IDPs and refugees in western Côte d'Ivoire often find their land, plantations and homes have been illegally occupied or sold in their absence.^[140] Others in Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Nigeria wish to return, but are unable to afford the cost of rebuilding their damaged or destroyed property.^[141]

As of the end of the year, seven of the west African countries we monitor had IDPs living in protracted displacement. In Côte d'Ivoire, having coped with life in displacement for more than ten years in some cases, 90 per cent of IDPs no longer wanted to return to their homes.^[142] Information on IDPs displaced from past conflicts in Liberia, Niger and Senegal was not available.

National and international response

Côte d'Ivoire and Mali made a number of promising commitments in 2014 that signalled hope for an im proved response to displacement. Côte d'Ivoire ratified the Kampala Convention,^[143] and as a pilot country for the implementation of the UN framework on ending displacement in the aftermath of conflict it developed a durable solutions strategy informed by a profiling exercise.^[144] Mali also developed a durable solutions strategy that was still to be approved as of the end of the year.^[145]

There was little if any progress on developing national legal and policy frameworks for IDPs' assistance and protection. Nigeria's national policy on displacement remained stalled for a second year,^[146] hampering the coordination of humanitarian and development efforts and ultimately failing those in need. Liberia's draft bill endorsing the Kampala Convention was shelved by the lower chamber of parliament.^[147]

Despite significant insecurity, national and international humanitarian organisations continued to assist the most vulnerable people in areas of northern Mali, most notably in Kidal. Access restrictions made it more difficult, however, to reach those in need in north-eastern Nigeria. Policy in Côte d'Ivoire shifted to recovery and development in 2014, with the inherent risk of diverting already limited funds away from interventions to address the needs of those still living in displacement.

The unprecedented crisis in northeastern Nigeria and the ensuing largescale displacement have created enormous operational challenges for the government, whose efforts to respond have been fragmented and uncoordinated. The international community was also late in reacting to escalating needs in the country.

Unreliable data on displacement and funding shortfalls – the strategic response plan for Nigeria was only 13 per cent funded as of the end of the year^[148] – undermined an already weak response in hard-to-reach areas still further. As such, host communities have been left to provide the majority of assistance to people displaced by Boko Haram and inter-communalviolencereceive.^[149]

Côte d'Ivoire's Commission for Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation delivered its final report in December 2014 after three years of deliberation.^[150] Doubts remain, however, about its impartiality and the logistics of the compensation process. The effective processing of all victims' claims will be crucial in rebuilding trust, particularly during the investigative phase, which has yet to start. It is also unclear how the various institutions set up to address similar issues will function together, given their overlapping mandates that depend on different ministries.

There were also questions about the inclusiveness of Mali's peace process. Civil society, including IDPs and others affected by the crisis, were only allowed to take an active part in the second of many rounds of negotiations,^[151] leaving concerns at the community level in danger of being overlooked.

106 OCHA, Cameroon: Population displacement due to violence against civilians, 30 January 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/8dCMQy

107 IOM/NEMA, Displacement Tracking Matrix, Round II report, February 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/27Gbyz

108 Ibid

109 IOM/NEMA, The IDP situation in North-Eastern Nigeria (Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/Hx0scC

110 OCHA, A call for humanitarian aid Responding to the needs of people affected by crises in the Sahel, 12 February 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/zc8bRI

111 HRW, World Report 2015: Nigeria, 12 January 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/hPYJR4

112 HRW, Interview: Life After Escaping Boko Haram's Clutches, October 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/sQPN59

113 UNHCR, Protection monitoring report, May 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/rOPBvo; OCHA, Mission report, September 2014; IDMC, New commitments signal hope for 300,000 still internally displaced, 26 February 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/26xHUj

114 IDMC correspondance with the Direction Nationale du Développement Social, February 2015

115 ICG, Crisis Watch Database – Mali 5 Jan 2015, 5 January 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/ieXTKw

116 IDMC, In Need of Durable Solutions: the Revolving Door of Internal Displacement in West Africa, March 2006, available at: http://goo.gl/sS3uEm

117 Ibid; Global Witness, The usual suspects: Liberia's Weapons and Mercenaries in Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone, March 2003, available at: http://goo.gl/9RflWI

118 IOM/NEMA, February 2015, op. cit.

119 ICG, Curbing Violence in Nigeria, December 2012, available at: http://goo.gl/rHAE28

120 IDMC: New commitments signal hope for 300,000 still internally displaced, 26 February 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/ZREWWj

121 Ibid

122 IDMC interview with HRW, October 2014

123 IDMC: Nigeria: multiple displacement crises overshadowed by Boko Haram, December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/HQKi2a

124 Ibid

125 ICIR, Grim tales of rape, child trafficking in displaced persons camps, 29 January 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/jQKOJ8

126 IDMC interview with OCHA, October 2014

127 IOM/NEMA, The IDP situation in North-Eastern Nigeria (Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe) -Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/#analytics/goo.gl/Ko3yQq/all_time

128 For more information, see IDMC: New commitments signal hope for 300,000 still internally displaced, 26 February 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/Y0f4oZ

129 Ibid

130 For more information, see IDMC: Mali: Ongoing pursuit of durable solutions, May 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/emezEj

131 IDMC interview with OCHA, October 2014

132 Watchlist, Who will care for us?, 4 September 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/14b1lG

133 Ibid

134 UNICEF/Handicap International, Les impacts psychosociaux de la crise du Nord Mali sur la population de la région de Tombouctou, March 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/aUTJsf

135 Education cluster, Situation Report June 27 July 11, July 2012, available at: http://goo.gl/V536W8

136 Global education cluster, Apercu Janvier 2015, January 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/UdWwKr

137 Watchlist, September 2014, op. cit.

138 ACHPR, Press Release on the Ratification of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), 21 January 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/Em7zLp

139 Correspondence between IDMC and Direction Nationale du Développement Social DTM, February 2015

140 IDMC: New commitments signal hope for 300,000 still internally displaced, 26 February 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/twcwSo

141 IDMC interview with Nigerian Red Cross Society, May 2013

142 Joint profiling report on file at IDMC, February 2015

143 AU, List of countries which have signed/ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), January 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/awUNrQ

144 UN General Assembly, 68th Session: Protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons, July 2013, available at: http://goo.gl/33R4ns

145 IDMC: Mali: Ongoing pursuit of durable solutions, May 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/a9WpC7

146 IDMC interview with Nigerian Commission For Refugees, February 2015

147 IDMC, Workshop report: Domesticating the Kampala Convention: Law and Policy Making, October 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/3s9eAE

148 Financial Tracking System, Sahel crisis 2014: Funding Status, 26 December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/QYVwqb

149 IDMC interview with UNHCR, October 2014

150 Government of Côte d'Ivoire, Remise du rapport final de la CDVR, 15 December 2015, available at: http://goo.gl/o1MKt5

151 IDMC: Why long-term solutions for Malian IDPs hinge on more inclusive peace talks, August 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/UtyVLz