A situation that worries the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which provides, with local authorities, to set up camps.
In Nigeria, 10,000 Cameroonians have been registered by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cross River State. These people are hosted by families in difficult conditions. This drives UNHCR to launch the alert.
" The increased number means that needs increase. And the situation on the ground makes these means quite delicate to obtain. We still have means of subsistence, housing, sanitary means, hygiene. So, all these conditions make us aware of the situation of these people and especially women and children, "said Romain Desclous, UNHCR representative in Nigeria this Saturday, January 20, 2018 on the airwaves of RFI.
About 70% of the registered asylum seekers, mostly women and children, are from the Akwaya region in southwestern Cameroon. They are welcomed by local communities near the border. With the continuing unrest in Cameroon and the arrival of many asylum seekers, UNHCR is concerned that the capacity of the local population will soon be severely tested.
" We are talking about 5,000 children. Not everyone is accompanied, but there are cases that are. A number of these children resort to begging to be able to support themselves when they are alone or to help their families when they are with them. So these are very delicate situations that require intervention ", continues Romain Desclous.
There is also the question of education. " These children for some have fled Cameroon since October. It should now be reassured that these children have the capacity to be able to follow education in the country where they are now ".
Given the scale of the phenomenon, UNHCR plans to set up camps with local authorities. Since escalating tensions between security forces and pro-independence protesters in the English-speaking region of Cameroon in October 2017, joint teams of UNHCR and the government have registered about 10,000 new arrivals in remote areas of Cross River State. , in Nigeria. According to their information, thousands more are also waiting to be registered.
Source : CIR