CMR border towns, not safe haven for NGA'ian refugees

Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram violence at home and seeking refuge in Cameroon border towns are still not safe.

Since June over 1,500 Nigerian families have crossed into Cameroon where they are mainly sheltering with host families or in local mosques, churches and schools, but following renewed Boko Haram attacks, some of these schools have been destroyed and refugees have had to flee further into Cameroon's interior.

Local officials and UNHCR estimate show that 43,000 Nigerians have fled to Cameroon over the past year, including 26,753 refugees registered by UNHCR.

During the month of August alone, more than 11,000 Nigerian refugees crossed into Cameroon and Chad while 15,000 refugees and returnees arrived in Niger's Diffa Region.

In Mora, 1,733 Cameroonians and thousands of Nigerians are sheltering in local schools and mosques, while in Kolofata, about 5,000 people are living in similar conditions, according to Babila Akaou, the prefect of Mayo Sava Division.

Nigerians are arriving hungry, exhausted, with wounded feet from the long journey, and with a high rate of respiratory infections among the children, according to Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesperson.

UNHCR and its partners are calling for more funding to boost the response to the growing refugee crisis. Some 75,000 people have fled Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad and Niger over the past year, they estimate.

"We thank the Cameroonian authorities for accepting us on their land. Despite the fear of Ebola, the government of Cameroon has let us cross the border. I come from the village of Kerawa. We were attacked in the village by Boko Haram and I don't even know where my two sons could be found today," John Shetima, a refugee in Kolofata, told IRIN.

Lydia Ali, another refugee from Goza in Borno State, Nigeria, told IRIN: "Life is hopeless. My village is now in the hands of Boko Haram. People ran away and some people were killed, and some were captured by Boko Haram. We feel safer in Cameroon."

Refugees told UNHCR that insurgents had attacked their villages in the areas of Gwoza, Bama, Pulka and Idagala in Borno State, and stole everything before burning their houses. The refugees escaped, walking for days until they reached Cameroon. The villages remain mostly empty on the Nigeria side, with only the old and disabled remaining.

Over the past few days the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been transporting refugees living in schools and mosques in and around Kolofato to Minawao camp 12km inland, while security is being enforced to reduce further attacks inside Cameroon.

The population of Minawao camp has more than doubled to 13,900 since August, incurring an urgent need for more tents, toilets and water points to be built, said Muhamat Alhidi, the camp site planner.

Refugees there complained to IRIN of a lack of sufficient food, water and tents. Refugee Judith Yagane told IRIN: "We have not had water for five days. We have just a little to drink each day but not enough for all our needs."

Conflict between Boko Haram militants and the Cameroonian military has abated over recent weeks since the assault on the Cameroonian town of Fotokol on 26 August, when 40 Boko Haram militants were reported killed and one member of the Cameroonian military injured.

Military sources say fighting between Boko Haram and the Nigerian military is ongoing in villages in Nigeria not far from the Cameroon border; in one of those attacks the Nigerian military was forced to retreat into Cameroon territory before being escorted back to Nigeria, according to Cameroon army spokesman Lt-Col Didier Badjeck.