The exodus of Nigerians fleeing from Boko Haram attacks in the
North-East of the country continues amid an influx of another
16,000 refugees into neighbouring Cameroon, the United Nations
refugee agency has said.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, the latest movements are expected to bring the total of
Nigerian refugees in Cameroon to nearly 66,000.
Speaking to journalists at a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland,
on Tuesday, the UNHCR’s spokesman, Adrian Edwards, said
Cameroonian authorities had observed a “steady flow of refugees
streaming in through the extremely volatile” border regions of
Makaria, Logone Birni and Fotokol, south of Lake Chad, leaving
them vulnerable to attacks from the Boko Haram insurgents.
Clashes between the terrorist group and the Nigerian troops have
intensified in recent weeks as fighting has spilled across borders
and become increasingly regionalised.
According to reports, during the past few weeks alone, the group
has also perpetrated deadly attacks against civilians in Chad,
Cameroon and Niger.
Edwards noted that the UNHCR was already planning daily
transfers of 2,000 refugees to Minawao, where there is an
established refugee camp currently hosting more than 32,600
and where urgent shelter and sanitation construction is under
way.
At the camp, he added, the UNHCR would also be providing basic
relief aid, such as blankets, kitchen sets and soap.
The surge in fighting across the region has largely hampered
efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need.
Edwards told journalists that the UN refugee agency was working
with the Cameroonian government to relocate refugees as quickly
as possible from the zones of active conflict to a nearby transit
area but that the refugees had become difficult to reach due to
the unstable situation.
He added that the evolving security situation and the prospect of
more refugees arriving had prompted the need for the creation of
a new camp further away from the insecure border.
“Given the scarcity of water in the area around Minawao, we are
looking to secure a second camp location that will provide
adequate levels of potable water for a rapidly growing refugee
population in the Far North region,” the spokesman for the
UNHCR said.
The agency also noted that elsewhere in the region, refugee
numbers were also rising. It said some 18,000 people had fled to
western Chad, including more than 15,000 since early January
after Boko Haram’s offensive against the town of Baga in Borno
State.
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Source: Punch Editor
www.punchng.com/news/bharam-66000-nigerian-refugees-in-cameroon-un-says/

with the present trend,i believe my countrymen and women are much more in refugee camps than the present number given. This PDP leg govt is a curse unto this nation.

Lord have mercy