The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Refugees

  • 80,000 Nigerian refugees to be repatriated from Cameroon

    The Federal Government has signed a tripartite agreement with the UN High Commission for Refuge (UNHCR) and the Republic of Cameroon for the return of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon.

    The Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sidi, spoke when an AU Humanitarian Mission led by Dr Aisha Abdullahi, AU’s Commissioner Political Affairs, visited the agency in Abuja.

    Sidi, in a statement signed by Sani Datti, NEMA’s Information Officer, said: “80,000 Nigerians are taking refuge in Cameroon and are being catered for by the Federal Government”.

    He hailed the Federal Government, state governments affected by the insurgency, the UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and the private sector for supporting the refugees.

    The NEMA director-general also thanked all the development partners and donor agencies for working tirelessly in supporting the Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) and the government and people of Nigeria.

    Sidi said the organisations had “done a lot in the past four years to manage large numbers of IDPs in the North-East”.

    He said with the war against Boko Haram almost over, the stakeholders in the humanitarian response “have moved from the emergency response stage to recovery and resettlement of the IDPs”.

    He urged the visiting AU commissioner to use her office to seek more assistance and support for the persons and the states affected by the insurgency.

    Abdullahi had said the AU team was in Nigeria to assess the humanitarian situation and to discuss areas of possible support.

    The statement quoted her as saying that the displaced Nigerians were of concern to the AU.

    “The records available to AU indicate that there are about 13 million displaced persons and three million refugees on the continent.

    “I commend the efforts of the Nigerian government and the military for degrading and minimising the activities of the insurgents in the North-East.

    “The AU will continue to give more attention to the issues of displacement through interaction and focus on addressing the root causes of conflicts in Africa,’’ Abdullahi said

  • UN urges countries to open borders to refugees

    UN urges countries to open borders to refugees

    The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki Moon, has advised European countries against increasing borders in Balkan and Austria to migrants and refugees moving toward Europe.

    Ban said in statement issued by his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, that it was imperative for all European countries to keep their frontiers open to the migrants and refugees.

    “UN secretary-general has voiced concern about increasing border restrictions in the Balkans and Austria for migrants and refugees streaming toward Europe

    “All countries should keep their borders open, and act in a spirit of responsibility sharing and solidarity, including through expanding legal pathways to access asylum,’’ it said.

    According to the statement, Turkey is currently hosting more than 2.6 million refugees and asylum seekers.

    It also said that seven European states have restored border controls within the Schengen passport-free zone, while others had said that they would unilaterally tighten border controls.

    The statement said that the restrictions were not in line with the UN 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

    It said that there were also currently restrictions of refugees in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia.

  • Lasun: National Assembly ’ll back convention on refugees, migration

    Lasun: National Assembly ’ll back convention on refugees, migration

    THE Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Yussuff Lasun, has promised that National Assembly will give legislative backing to refugees and the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) Convention on Migration Mobility.

    He spoke yesterday at the launched of a document on the convention at the on-going 133rd Assembly of the IPU in Geneva, Switzerland.

    The document was designed to educated legislators, government officials, non-governmental agencies (NGO), civil society groups and others providing services to rural populations “on governing, administering and managing migration”.

    Reacting to how Nigeria would domesticate the document, Lasun said the country has always been alive to its responsibilities concerning migrants and displaced people.

    He said Nigeria would have no problem internalising the document when backed with legislative powers.

    He said: “If we are going to be factual, Nigeria has always been proactive about these issues and you should recall that the House has just created a standing Committee on refugees.

    “Besides, the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, is keen on the issue of refugees and displaced people and proactive about how deliberate efforts aimed at reconstructing the Northeast should be put in place.

    “So, I don’t think this document will be difficult to domesticate.”

    The deputy speaker assured that Nigeria would continue to play leading roles on global issues following the adoption of the African position on refugees by the Assembly on Monday.

     

     

    Lasun chaired the African regional group that adopted the Sudanese position.

    The author of the document, Patrick Taran, who is president, Global Migration Policy, was also optimistic that Nigeria would not lag behind in the implementation of the convention.

    Taran, who had worked previously on the issue in Nigeria, said: “It is becoming crucial to ensure the viability of economies in developed world and increasingly, a key element to development in the integration of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

    “In fact, the book respond to the fact that even for large countries like Nigeria, a country with migrants overseas with an estimated two million immigrants, something like 80 or 90 per cent coming from other West African countries to provide essential services, labour and skills that are not necessarily present in Nigeria as a nation.

    “I was personally involved last year in conducting a survey in Nigeria looking at the extra-domestication and implementation of this convention, which has been ratified by Nigeria.

    “We found a high degree of domestication of national law, but we still found some gaps. Some provisions are yet to be put into law, which means there are some laws for legislators to do. And importantly, what need to be done now in Nigeria is implementing the National Labour Migration Policy Framework that was adopted last year in November by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    “It provides blueprint with mandates from all of the different concerned ministries to do what is necessary to effect migration in the country.”

     

     

  • Africa adopts common stance on refugees

    Africa adopts common stance on refugees

    The African delegation to the 133rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly holding in Geneva, Switzerland, is to present issue of refugees arising from Boko Haram insurgency and other terrorist groups, it was learnt yesterday.

    The decision of the African regional group was articulated at a meeting preceding the opening session, which was chaired by the leader of the Nigerian delegation and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuff Lasun.

    At the meeting, several countries complained about Boko Haram and the effects of its activities on the socio-economic life of the people.

    The latest figure for refugees and displaced persons in the Northeast was put at over five million.

    However, a Sudan’s position was adopted by the contingent after a robust debate on its effectiveness.

    It was agreed by the African delegation that a meeting be held with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the same issue to articulate a position with a view to adopting the Sudanese position as the African position backed by the UAE.

    Lasun, who is the chairman of the African regional group, said adopting and supporting a common position by the African group showed how concerned the continent is about refugees.

    He said: “After listening to the representative of Sudan, it was not difficult to adopt the presentation because it was sound and workable.

    “Most African countries can relate with the issue because of the effect of refugees on the socio-economic development of our respective countries.

    “Though, it is a global challenge, but as Africans – whether it was through wars, natural disasters or activities of insurgent groups like Boko Haram or Al-shabaab – we all know how it feels.

    “As a result, we are duty-bound to do what we think will benefit the entire continent, that will also add value to our lives.

    “We cannot afford to treat the issue of refugees with levity, it has to be deliberated, coordinated and vigorously implemented.”

    The leader of the Senate delegation, Senator Kabiru Gaya,  said Nigeria was made to preside over the African regional group because of its leadership position on the continent.

    “The regional group was aware of the leadership roles Nigeria has been playing on several fronts globally, including conflict resolution. It was not difficult when our delegation moved to chair the regional group meeting.

    “All the members were also aware how critical and decisive Nigeria’s support could be on many of these issues,” Gaya said.

  • Refugees’ influx’ll spur economic growth, says World Bank chief

    The influx of refugees from war-torn countries and others from poverty-stricken nations could spur the growth of the economies of the recipient nations, the President, World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, has said.

    Kim, who spoke while reacting to a World Bank report, said with the right set of policies, this era of demographic change could be an engine of economic growth, arguing that “if countries with ageing populations can create a path for refugees and migrants to participate in the economy, everyone benefits.  “Most of the evidence suggests that migrants will work hard and contribute more in taxes than they consume in social services.”

    The report which was released in Lima, Peru, at the ongoing meetings of the global financial bodies, stated that the world is undergoing a major population shift that will reshape economic development for decades. He said  while posing challenges, it offers a path to ending extreme poverty and shared prosperity if the right evidence-based policies are put in place nationally and internationally.

    The report, titled: ‘The Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016: Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change,’ said the large-scale migration from poor countries to richer regions of the world will be a permanent feature of the global economy for decades to come as a result of major population shifts.

    In her contribution, the Managing Director,  International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, said the demographic developments analysed in the report will pose fundamental challenges for policy-makers across the world in years ahead.

    She said: “Whether it be the implications of steadily ageing populations, the actions needed to benefit from a demographic dividend, the handling of migration flows – these issues will be at the centre of national policy debates and of the international dialogue on how best to cooperate in handling these pressures.”

    The report said the share of global population that is of working age has peaked at 66 per cent and is now on the decline. Global population growth is expected to slow to one per cent from more than two per cent in the 1960s. The share of the elderly is anticipated to almost double to 16 per cent by 2050, while the global count of children is stabilising at two billion.

    It said the direction and pace of this global demographic transition varies dramatically from country to country, with differing implications depending on where a nation stands on the spectrum of aging and economic development.

  • German president warns of limits to number of refugees

    Germany’s president has warned that there are limits to how many refugees his country can absorb as it prepares for as many as 800,000 arrivals this year, showing growing concern even at the highest level over how to look after so many newcomers.

    “We want to help. We have a big heart. However, there is a limit to what we can do,” Reuters quoted President Joachim Gauck, a former rights activist in communist East Germany, as saying in a speech on Sunday evening.

    “Our ability to take in people is limited, although we don’t know yet where those limits are,” he added.

    The comments from the head of state, who has a largely ceremonial role but whose words carry moral authority, appeared to be striking a more cautious tone than Chancellor Angela Merkel who has said Germany can cope with the record influx.

    The government declined to respond directly to Gauck’s comments, reflecting political convention, but defended its handling of the situation.

    “The German government and the chancellor are convinced that protection has to be given to those who need it, whether they are persecuted for political reasons or fleeing war,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.

    The debate came amid signs of growing tension among asylum seekers, part of a wave of mass migration into the European Union from the Middle East and parts of Africa.

    At least 14people were injured on Sunday when a brawl broke out between two rival groups in a refugee centre in the western German town of Calden, police said. The refugees were being housed in tents set up on a disused airfield.

  • 13,000 REFUGEES BACK FROM CAMEROON

    13,000 REFUGEES BACK FROM CAMEROON

    Federal Government officials and those of Adamawa and Borno States yesterday visited the over 12,000 Nigerian refuges repatriated by the Cameroonian authorities at their temporary camps in Mubi, Adamawa, preparatory to their screening for rehabilitation.

    The officials were led by Alhaji Sani Sidi, the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency.

    Sidi said the government delegation was in Mubi to officially receive the refugees, assess their conditions and provide for their basic needs.

    They are expected to be moved to designated Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Yola.

    “While in the camps, you will undergo screenings in order to identify the areas where you come from,” Sidi told them.

    Ninety-five per cent of the victims are natives of Gamboru, Ngala and Bama in Borno.

    The deputy governor of Borno, Alhaji Zanna Mustafa, also addressed the IDPs, saying the state authorities would move its people to Maiduguri after screening to enable them link them up with their families.

    He advised them to expose any member of Boko Haram living in their midst.

    About 80 per cent of the IDPs are women and children.

  • EU to propose relocation of 40,000 refugees from Italy, Greece

    The European Commission is set to propose next week that 40,000 asylum seekers who have arrived by boat in Italy and Greece should be relocated across the continent in response to what it considers an emergency situation in both countries.

    The proposal, revealed to Reuters by an EU source familiar with a draft, follows plans announced last week for the European Union to take in 20,000 asylum-seekers currently living outside the bloc.

    The Commission has also set a quota system, based on a country’s size and economic health, for those resettled migrants as well as for those relocated within the EU.

    The EU measure is due to be finalised on Wednesday and would need majority support from EU nations expecting to take in some of the migrants.

    The deaths of hundreds or thousands of migrants, largely from Africa, attempting to cross the Mediterranean in often flimsy boats has raised calls for coordinated policy to cope with the influx and stem the flow.

    The Commission had not provided the number of proposed relocations. The 40,000 figure could have been set to guarantee acceptance after some EU states, notably France, had initially baulked at the idea of opening their doors to migrants.

    The term “quotas” has been latched onto by anti-immigration groups as a sign that refugees are being imposed on France from outside.

    Last year, there were 600,000 asylum claims in the EU.

  • 130 Borno refugees storm Kebbi

    130 Borno refugees storm Kebbi

    Jega Local Government Area in Kebbi State has received 130 refugees, who fled crisis-ridden Borno State.

    The Chairman of Jega Local Government, Alhaji Haruna Haruna, who received the refugees, told newsmen that the affected victims arrived Jega  through Maiyama, Bunza and Argungu local government areas, adding that none of them hails from the local government.

    He said the victims were provided with temporary shelter, food and medical care, pending when they would reunite with their families.

    He said the victims had been subjected to rigorous screening by security agencies and medical personnel to ensure that they did not constitute a threat to the society, stressing that “the medical check-up was done to ascertain their health status, considering the current prevalence of contageous diseases, though we have not recorded a single case in the whole of the state.”

    He commended the people of the area for complementing the efforts of government in providing clothes, food, potable water and medicaments to the people.

    Also speaking, the District Head of Jega, Alhaji Muhammad Bawa, said the refugees were not from the area but only came to Jega for their own safety, especially because Jega people are hospitable.

    He called on the general public to be vigilant by reporting any suspicious stranger to the appropriate authorities.

    Mallam Musa Muhammad, who spoke on behalf of the refugees, said most of them were from Doron-Baga area of Borno state, adding: ”We were chased out of our towns and villages by the insurgents. I lost contact with some members of my family, especially my nine children, as I managed to escape with their mother only.”

    Musa said he had lived in Borno State for 30 years, adding, ”I had no option but to leave.”

    A mother of eight, Fatima Abubakar, said: “We were chased out of Michika in Adamawa State. I was holding my baby when the Yaran Malam popularly known as Boko Haram visited our homes. I had to abandoned the baby there and run for my dear life,”she said.

  • Ivory Coast blocks refugees amid Ebola fears

    Sierra Leone has been hit by Ebola, along with Guinea and Liberia

    Ivory Coast has blocked 400 refugees who fled to Liberia from returning home because of fears they could spread the Ebola virus, a UN official has said.

    The decision violated domestic and international law, the official added.

    Ivory Coast said it could not allow the refugees in because of the Ebola “pandemic” in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

    The virus has now killed 603 people in the three states, with 68 deaths reported in the last week, WHO said.

    This is the worst outbreak the world has ever seen.

    There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which spreads through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids.

    UN refugee agency official Mohamed Toure said Ivory Coast had acted “unacceptably” by turning away a convoy of refugees at the border with Liberia.

    The agency had offered to carry out medical screening of the refugees, but Ivorian officials still refused, he said.

    The group had fled to Liberia during the 2010-2011 conflict that hit Ivory Coast after then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in elections.

    Ivorian government spokesman Bruno Kone defended the decision to block the refugees from entering.

    “Everyone needs to show some understanding,” he is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

    “We face the greatest pandemic our region has seen for a long time. We cannot be lax in this area,” he said.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) said 85 new cases had been recorded in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia between 8 July and 12 July.

    Sierra Leone recorded the highest number of deaths – 52. Liberia reported 13 deaths and Guinea three, WHO said.

    The figures include confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola, it added.

    WHO spokesman Dan Epstein said it would probably take several months to “get a grip” on the epidemic.

    “People are isolated, they’re afraid, they’re scared,” he said.