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Tag: UNHCR

  • ‘Nigeria hosts over 36,000 Cameroonian refugees’

    The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said Nigeria is currently hosting over 36,000 Cameroonian refugees in Cross River, Benue, Akwa Ibom and Taraba States.

    Head of UNHCR Sub Office in Cross River Mr. Mulugeta Zwedie spoke yesterday in Ogoja Local Government Area during a celebration of the 2019 World Refugees Day.

    Zwedie said Cross River alone hosts 75 per cent of the refugees, adding that the host communities in the state have been exemplary in their response to the refugees’ influx.

    According to him, UNHCR intervened by providing shelter, food, clean water and medicare for the comfort of the refugees.

    He explained that the World Refugees Day was to show solidarity with the refugees, appreciate the effort of host communities and the Federal Government in welcoming and assisting Cameroonian refugees.

    Read Also: Refugees travel 2b km annually to reach safety, says UNHCR

    Zwedie said: “UNHCR is troubled by an anti-foreigner, anti-refugee narrative taking root in some countries. This narrative runs counter to democratic values, social stability and peace.

    “However, there is an alternative; a positive narrative that embraces inclusion, diversity and shared values. This narrative is backed by millions of acts of solidarity. These actions help ease tension, build resilience and sustain peace.

    “In fact, we know that in thousands of communities around the world, individuals are making a difference. Global grassroots solidarity for people forced to flee is helping turn intolerance into tolerance and toxicity into positive.”

    The Acting Director-General of Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Princewill Ayim, said the government had provided adequate security at the refugees’ settlement in Ogoja.

    Ayim, who was represented by Andy Akpafu-Adeshi, a Director in the agency, said the government had slashed the school fees of Cameroonian students in primary and secondary schools to encourage their education.

    Vice Chairman of the Cameroonian refugees settlement camp in Adagom, Ogoja, Ako Allan, thanked the government and UNHCR for their humanitarian service and security.

    Allan, who said they had maintained peaceful co-existence since the fled Southern Cameroon, promised that they will continue to be law abiding.

  • Daystar church donates N10m to conflict victims

    Daystar Christian Centre has donated N10million to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in support of victims of conflicts in Africa.

    The donation was made on Tuesday at the Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos.

    Senior Pastor of the church, Sam Adeyemi, said that the donation was to support UNHCR in helping people forced to flee their homes because of conflict, violence or persecution in Africa.

    He said it was the church’s commitment toward restoring the resilience of families forced to flee across the continent.

    According to him: “When people flee their homes and leave everything they own behind, their needs become critical and their coping mechanisms compromised.

    “Without help, they cannot access shelter, or even cooking utensils – let alone education and healthcare.

    “Some arrive with severe trauma after facing unimaginable ordeals before and during flights.”

    He added: “We need to do something like Jesus Christ did; he provided food for the hungry, he touch sick people physical and heals their sicknesses.

    “So our church (Daystar Christian Centre) has been involved in practical interventions in the community, building schools for children, providing bags for families that cannot afford, school fees for family that cannot afford, hospitals bills etc.”

    He also pointed out the church has been involved in community development projects since inception.

    “We at Daystar are happy to support UNHCR’s work on the ground to provide emergency relief and support to our forcibly displaced brothers and sisters,” Adeyemi said.

    He also challenged the church community to tackle humanitarian challenges around them like Jesus would have done.

    The Assistant Communications Officer, UNHCR Nigeria, Mr. Gabriel Adeyemo, said the donation, which was about $30,000 was handed over to the UNHCR team in Lagos by the church in Lagos.

    Mr. Jose Antonio-Canhandula, UNHCR’s Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS appreciated the church for the donation.

    He said the donation would be used to provide life-saving emergency assistance to families forced to flee their homes.

    “Nigeria is unfortunately affected by this phenomenon, not only in North-East, but also the Middle Belt.

    “Many displaced persons do not have where to sleep; no access to water; and access to healthcare facilities is very limited.

    “They do not participate in the economy and cannot fend for themselves,” Antonio-Canhandula said.

    He said the commitment of Daystar Centre to help uprooted families was truly appreciated and also demonstrated the spirit of sharing.

    He said that the “centre had paved the way for other civic organisations to support our brothers and sisters fleeing due to conflict.”

    Antonio-Canhandula noted that the world’s displaced persons had reached 68.5 million, adding an unprecedented level of over 25 million of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    He said that 76 per cent of the 68.5 million were women and children.

    Mrs. Needa Jehu-Mazou, the Head of UNHCR’S private sector partnerships in Africa, said Nigeria is a very hospitable country and as foster in our entire plans for refugees problems over the year.

    She also said “what Daystar has demonstrated today is phenomenal, really ground breaking.

    “It is the first faith- based organisation in Africa to throw its weight and align publicly with the UN and commit funds to it.

    “9% of all our income comes from the private sector globally. It was 423 million dollars last year and I’m very proud to count Nigerians in Daystar Church in particular among this donors.

    “We also have incredible other donors in Nigeria like 2 baba who support us immensely, financially and so many other ways,” she stressed.

  • UNHCR: Daystar Church donates N10m to support victims of conflicts in Africa

    The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Nigeria, says it has received N10 million as donation from the Daystar Christian Centre, Lagos, to support victims of conflicts in Africa.

    Mr Gabriel Adeyemo, Assistant Communications Officer, UNHCR, Nigeria, said the donation, which was about $30,000 was handed over to the UNHCR team in Lagos by the church at a brief ceremony on Tuesday in Lagos.

    Mr Jose Antonio-Canhandula, UNHCR’s Representative to Nigeria was quoted as saying the donation would be used to provide life-saving emergency assistance to families forced to flee their homes.

    “Nigeria is unfortunately affected by this phenomenon, not only in North-East, but also the Middle Belt.

    “Many displaced persons do not have where to sleep; no access to water; and access to healthcare facilities is very limited.

    “They do not participate in the economy and cannot fend for themselves,” Antonio-Canhandula said.

    He said that the commitment of Daystar Centre to help uprooted families was truly appreciated and also demonstrated the spirit of sharing.

    He said that the centre had paved the way for other civic organisations to support our brothers and sisters fleeing due to conflict.

    The representative added that Africa had vast potential to finance the needs of its displaced persons through its rich spirit of giving and human solidarity.

    Antonio-Canhandula noted that the world’s displaced persons had reached 68.5 million, adding that an unprecedented level of over 25 million of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    He said that 76 per cent of the 68.5 million were women and children.

    The Senior Pastor of the Centre, Sam Adeyemi, said that the donation was a commitment toward restoring the resilience of families forced to flee across the continent.

    “When people flee their homes and leave everything they own behind, their needs become critical, and their coping mechanisms compromised.

    “Without help, they cannot access shelter, or even cooking utensils – let alone education and healthcare.

    “Some arrive with severe trauma after facing unimaginable ordeals before and during flight.

    “We at Daystar are happy to support UNHCR’s work on the ground to provide emergency relief and support to our forcibly displaced brothers and sisters,” Adeyemi said.

  • Boko Haram displaced over 320, 000 persons in four months, says UNHCR

    THE Boko Haram sect has displaced about 320, 000 persons in the last four months, it was learnt yesterday.

    Regional Refugee Coordinator for Nigerian refugees and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ms Liz Ahua gave the figure at the Second Regional Protection Dialogue (RPD) on the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) in Abuja.

    Ms Ahua said 2.5 million people, who are internally displaced, are in exile.

    She said: “Today, two and half years after the first RPD, all of us gathered here in this meeting must stand together, as a community, to share the pains inflicted to over 7.5 million women, girls, boys, men, young and old, in the LCB. Whether internally displaced, of which there are over 2.5 million, in exile, of which there are close to 230,000 now or those  indirectly impacted, we feel their pain, their deprivation and the violence  arising from  the Boko Haram crisis.”

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    She said Nigeria is hosting over 35,000 internally displaced Cameroonians, who are in Benue, Cross Rivers and Taraba states.

    She called for a longer term approach to support those forced to flee and the communities hosting them.

    Her words: “Two-and-half years after the 1st Regional Protection Dialogue, a significant amount of work has been done to advance the commitments that we took here and a progress report will be given here today by UNHCR and the delegations from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. Despite this progress, however, we are equally going to learn that the Lake Chad Basin continues to face a protection crisis across the four countries.

    “While we acknowledge the deliberate and  concerted efforts of the four countries of the LCB to bring the Boko Haram crisis to an end and while recognising the successes achieved by military operations that have led to the recovery of local government areas in North-eastern Nigeria that had been hitherto occupied by Boko Haram, we are dismayed to witness  new displacement of people in Borno State and the flight of thousands more into Cameroon and Chad.

    “All together, close to 320,000 persons have been displaced anew in the last three months of 2018 and this very month of January. This vacillating situation compels us to be focused and realistic in our deliberations so that the conclusions that we reach today and tomorrow as well as the commitments that we will make must address more frontally, prior and the new challenges that this protracted conflict is thrusting on us.

    “While the second regional protection dialogue is focusing on the Lake Chad Basin, it is the moment to inform this August meeting that there are people displacement and exile in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. And the scope of the crisis is spreading in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR)  and within the neighbouring countries. We do not seek to alarm anyone, but the situation of those impacted by these complex situations is pre-occupying and worrisome.”

    Minister of Interior Lt.- Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau said the meeting was overdue and necessary as the humanitarian and protect indices of 2016 have barely improved.

    Dambazau, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior Dr. Mohammed Umar said while the activities of the insurgents have been maximally contained by the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, “the ugly aftermath of their actions particularly, the toll on the displaced populations is still present with us.

    “They have also resorted to various stratagems to crave for relevance to smother our joy and silence our testimony.”

    The dialogue ends today.

     

  • 68.5m people displaced globally – UNHCR

    The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi, said the number of people forced to flee their homes in 2017 rose to 68.5 million, warning that the world’s displacement hotspots “are becoming hotter”.

    Grandi also said nearly three million more people were displaced year-on-year, citing ongoing, protracted violence around the globe and a lack of solutions to conflicts as reasons for the increase.

    According to him, more than two thirds of all refugees worldwide originated from only a handful of countries.

    He said that “continuous pressure on civilians” caught up in fighting, had pushed them to leave their homes.

    Top of the list is Syria, where seven years of brutal fighting had forced more than six million people to seek shelter abroad, followed by Afghanistan (2.6 million) and South Sudan (2.4 million).

    The High Commissioner noted ongoing concerns over 1.5 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring host countries, including Lebanon, stressing that “it’s not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’” they will return to Syria – once conditions allow.

    New disputes in 2017 were also significant contributors to global displacement, he said.

    These include the exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017, he said, adding that it is still not safe for them to return, as well as 1.5 million Venezuelans who had sought shelter in neighbouring countries in Latin America.

    Grandi also expressed concern for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where violence has spread to formerly peaceful areas of the vast country and caused displacement figures to double in 2017, to 4.4 million.

    The report also found that 85 per cent of the 68.5 million displaced in 2017 came from poor or middle-income countries.

    This, Grandi added, “should be an element dispelling the notion” that the so-called crisis is only in the rich world, “which it is not”.

    “It continues to be a crisis mostly of the poor world – so, people from poor countries moving to poor countries, or staying within their country, as displaced.”

    In addition, 70 per cent of the world’s displaced are nationals of just 10 countries, according to the UNHCR report.

    “This is also significant because it means, frankly, that if there were solutions to conflicts to these countries – or some of them at least – this number could start to come down.

    “But we haven’t seen any significant progress in peacemaking or peace-building in any of these 10 countries,” the high commissioner said.

    In spite of the rise in displacement driven by persecution and violence and the lack of conflict resolution, Grandi struck a positive note, saying solutions were within reach and UNHCR is helping to find solutions to the pressures caused by mass displacement. (NAN)

  • UNHCR begins relocation of 10,000 IDPs to permanent camp in Benue

    The Assistant Representative in charge of Operation at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Boubacar Bamba, said on Friday the agency has commenced the relocation of over 10,000 Internally Displaced Persons Cameroonians to permanent camps in Benue State.

    Bamba told journalists in Makurdi, the state capital, that the IDPs were being moved to “a safer and permanent place following clashes between French and English speaking parts of Cameroon.

    The IDPs were formally camped at a temporary camp at Abande community in Kwande local government area of Benue but were moved to a permanent site at Anyeke in the same local government.

    The IDPs have been in Benue as a result of the internal conflict in their country.

    “Over 50 per cent of the populations are children while 30 per cent are women. Benue State which shares border with Cameroon had in 2017 witnessed over 10 thousand refugees camped in Kwande Local govt area of the state,” he said.

    Also speaking, Mr. Josiah Flomo, head of sub office Calabar, also explained the reasons for the relocation of the Cameroonian to their new camp.

    “We hope the crises will come to an end, but before then we have to see the IDPs camped in conducive environment.

    “We intend to move them to the permanent site so they can have basic social amenities and security,” Flomo said.

    Responding, the Executive Secretary of the Benue Emergency Management Agency, Emmanuel Shior, who represented Governor Samuel Ortom at the occasion, thanked the UN for its response and building a better shelter for the Cameroonians IDPs.

     

     

  • UNHCR launches $157m appeal fund for Boko Haram victims

    UNHCR launches $157m appeal fund for Boko Haram victims

    The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and its humanitarian partners on Wednesday launched an inter-agency funding appeal of $157 million dollars for people affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin region.

    The Deputy UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms Kelly Clements, said at the appeal launched in Niamey, Niger, that “the Boko Haram crisis lingers on and is far from over.

    The 47 UN agencies, including the UNHCR, and humanitarian organisations participating in the 2018 Nigeria Regional Refugee Response Plan will provide support to some 208,000 Nigerian refugees.

    The agencies would also provide support for 75,000 of the Nigerian refugees’ hosts in Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

    “The world should not forget the victims of this deadly conflict, especially as there appears to be little hope for a return to peace and stability in the near future,” Clements said.

    She said Nigerian refugees continued to arrive in very remote and impoverished communities in neighbouring countries.

    The UNHCR said since it started in 2013, the Boko Haram conflict has internally displaced another 2.4 million people in North East Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

    NAN

     

  • FG to bring back 91,000 Nigerians from Cameroon

    FG to bring back 91,000 Nigerians from Cameroon

    The Federal Government has commenced the process of repatriating 91,000 Nigerian refugees from Cameroon.

    The move, which is a tripartite arrangement between Nigeria, Cameroon and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), will ensure the repatriation of the Nigerians who are presently at the Minawao Refugee Camp.

    The Head Humanitarian, Resettlement and Assistance Department, Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI), Dr. Sidi Ali, said the process was designed to back bring back the Nigerian refugees who were desperate to return to the country.

    He said the federal government is hoping that by the end of February the final process of bringing the people back to the country would have commenced fully.

    He said: ” As we speak the Nigerian, Cameroonian governments and UNHCR have formed the tripartite commission with the sole responsibility of bringing the refugees back to Nigeria. They are currently in Minawao camp in Cameroon. The processes has already began, we are doing the profiling,  making arrangements and putting the reception centers in place. Initially we are looking at February, early February but by and large, we are hoping that by the end of February the final process of bringing them back into the country will commence.

    “Considering the relocation of IDPs and stabilization of camps, returnees registration and profiling, the number of people that we are bringing back to the country from our neighbouring countries particularly Cameroon has grown from 80,000 last year to 91,000. It is a task that we must be able to accomplish in 2018 by putting all hands on deck to bring these people back to Nigeria.”

     

  • Insurgency: ECOWAS Parliament, UNHCR tour affected Adamawa communities

    Insurgency: ECOWAS Parliament, UNHCR tour affected Adamawa communities

    Some members of ECOWAS Parliament and United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have commenced tour of some communities affected by insurgency and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Adamawa.

    Welcoming the group in Gulak, headquarters of Madagali local government area of the state, the Vice Chairman of the LGA, Mr. Thomas Feaku, said the area was under siege since December.

    He said: “As from December 23, the area recorded Boko Haram attack almost on daily basis; the latest was the attack at kaya village on Friday where five people died.

    “People in many villages in the interior are leaving due to fear of attacks. We want government to deploy more troops to this area.”

    The District Head of Gulak, Alhaji Bello Tsimda, said the security challenge in Madagali was serious that many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and agencies rendering support to returnees were avoiding the area.

    Tsimda said many returnees could not find business to do as farmers could not go to farm and markets in the area could not operate due to fear of attack.

    Officials of ECOWAS Parliament and UNHCR, Mrs. Asabe Bashir and Mr. Mohammed Tejan, said they were in Madagali on a joint mission to hear from returnees in insurgency affected areas in Nigeria and other affected countries like Niger and Mali for support.

    NAN

  • UNHCR registers 12,100 Cameroonian refugees in 2 states

    UNHCR registers 12,100 Cameroonian refugees in 2 states

    The UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) has registered 12,100 Cameroonian refugees in Benue and Cross River.

    Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, gave the figure during a news conference on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said 4,000 of the Cameroonians were registered in Benue while 8,100 others were registered in Cross River.

    According to the UN official, there are Cameroonian refugees in some other parts of the country, but they are more in Benue and Cross River, which need urgent intervention by government and humanitarian partners.

    “What are the figures today? When talking about figures, our organisation, UNHCR, talks about figures that have been verified, and the people who have been registered.

    “So far in Cross River State, we have registered 8,100 refugees; certainly, they are more and that is why the team is still on ground. So, we can’t state how many more.

    “But what we can state is that they are still coming, and they are coming daily. In Benue, we have a total of 4,000 refugees; 2,310 in Abande and 1,690 in Abasse; these are figures that we can vouch for.”

    Read also: Crisis as Cameroonian refugees swell Cross River communities

    He further noted that the 40,000 figure that was earlier stated was for contingency plan and not the actual figure of registered Cameroonian refugees in the country.

    “We have worked with our partners since this crisis started; we have prepared a contingency plan and the contingency plan has a figure.

    “That figure in the plan should not be used as the figure of refugees that are in the country already. With the contingency plan, it means that we are preparing the resources.

    “In case we reach that number, the contingency figure is 40,000 so far, which can be reversed, ” the UNHCR representative said.

    According to him, the UN body is trying to accelerate the registration process, to get the actual figures of Cameroonian in those states.

    Sadiya Farouq, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displayed Persons (NCFRMI) said on the occasion that Federal Government had started giving out relief materials to refugees in the affected states.

    She said that government was working with other partners to address the situation, by putting them in camps and ensuring that those camps were secured.

    Farouq, however, said that discussion was ongoing with the Cameroonian government to ensure that the political crisis being faced at the moment was resolved.

    Mr Tamuno Jaja, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service noted that not all the Cameroonians came through the borders.

    He said that some of them came into the country through community close to them, stating that the most affected states were Taraba, Benue, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.

    Jaja said that all efforts were geared toward resuscitating them in the interim, noting that the peace of Cameroon is the peace of Nigeria.

    NAN