Thousands of Nigerian refugees flee to Cameroon

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday, March 3, reported that about 16,000 Nigerian refugees have fled to the Far North region of neighboring Cameroon over the weekend to escape clashes in northeast Nigeria between regional military forces and insurgents.

“Starting tomorrow, the Agency will work with Cameroon to relocate refugees to a transit site at Kousseri, 90 km from the border,” Vannina Maestracci, the associate UN spokesperson, said at a daily news briefing here, adding “These refugees will be transferred to a camp in Minawao.”

“Given the evolving security situation and the prospect of more refugee arrivals, the possibility of setting up a second refugee camp is being considered,” she said, quoting UNHCR.

The Cameroonian authorities have observed a steady flow of refugees streaming in through the “extremely volatile” border regions of Makaria, Logone Birni and Fotokol, just south of Lake Chad, rendering them vulnerable to attacks from the Nigerian insurgent group, Boko Haram, the UN reported.

Clashes between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government forces have intensified in recent weeks as fighting has spilled across borders and become increasingly regionalized.

During the past few weeks alone, the group has also perpetrated deadly attacks against civilians in Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

The surge in fighting across the region has largely hampered efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. UNHCR was working with the Cameroonian government to relocate refugees as quickly as possible from the zones of active conflict to a nearby transit area.

However, due to the unstable situation, the refugees had become difficult to reach. Evolving security situation and the prospect of more refugee arrivals had prompted the need for the creation of a new camp further away from the insecure border.

The refugee crisis is also compounding the economic stability of the area. A recent World Food Programme food security and vulnerability assessment in Niger in November 2014 showed that a total of 52.7 percent of displaced households and their host families were severely (14 percent) or moderately (38.7 percent) food insecure thus the need for urgent food assistance.