With the number of people
fleeing English-speaking areas of Cameroon for Nigeria growing, UNHCR,
the UN Refugee Agency, is increasingly concerned at the plight of women
and children among them.
Women and children represent about 80
per cent of the approximately 10,000 refugees registered so far in
eastern Nigeria’s Cross River state. Thousands more are among the
population of unregistered Cameroonians in neighbouring states.
Some of these are boys and girls who
fled to Nigeria alone. Unaccompanied and separated children are
particularly affected by difficult access to food and the lack of
subsistence opportunities.
UNHCR staff have received numerous
reports that children have to work or beg to survive or to help their
families. Many children are unable to attend school, as they lack both
the time and funds for education. Although schooling in Nigeria is free,
there are still some basic costs, such as those for school materials.
UNHCR is working with the Nigerian
authorities to assist with the reunification of separated children with
their families, to provide unaccompanied children with protection
services and to restore the basic right of all children to education.
Some children arriving to Nigeria reported to UNHCR that they had been
out of school in Cameroon for the whole of the past academic year.
For women, the lack of work combined
with the over-stretched reception facilities, creates a higher risk of
sexual and gender-based violence, particularly from survival sex. So
far, only a limited number of such cases have been recorded, mainly in
the Amana community of Cross River state. However, UNHCR is concerned
that many more incidents go unreported or are referred only to community
elders. Incidents of domestic violence, as well as cases of teenage
pregnancies involving girls as young as 14, have also been reported.
In Nigeria’s Benue state, where two
school buildings have been reserved by authorities to serve as temporary
refugee hosting accommodation, women and their families are forced to
sleep inside communal school halls, deprived of private space and the
right to family dignity. For them – and for the rest of the population
living in temporary tents hastily built next to local residences –
sufficient and appropriate shelter is key to ensure adequate
registration, systematic aid distribution and reduced protection risks.
UNHCR is currently working with the
Nigerian authorities to identify sites away from the border, where the
refugees can be hosted according to international standards. We are also
establishing offices in the towns of Calabar and Adikpo to better
provide assistance and protection to the women and children. Our support
includes food, basic relief items, health, and water and sanitation
facilities.
UNHCR recognizes the enormous
generosity of the Nigerian border communities, opening their doors to
Cameroonian refugees. Almost all of those registered reported that they
had left their homes because of insecurity and that they would go back
only when it’s safe to do so.
UNHCR Press Release
0 comments:
Post a Comment