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Borno govt reveals timeline for repatriation of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon

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The repatriation of more than 46,000 Nigerian refugees, mostly from Borno who fled to Cameroon due to insurgency, is to begin on Feb. 27.

Malam Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser to Gov. Babagana Zulum on Public Relations and Strategy, made this known on Thursday, February 11, in a statement in Maiduguri.

Gusau said that the date was fixed following a meeting of stakeholders in Maroua, Cameroon.

“Following a two-day visit to Cameroon by Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno, a tripartite commission meeting held on Wednesday night has fixed Feb. 27 and March 7, 2021, to commence the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees towards resettlement in Borno.

“More than 46,000 Nigerians, mostly from Borno, have been taking refuge in Minawao refugee camp, located in Mokolo, far north region of Cameroon,” Gusau said.

Gusau said that the meeting had in attendance, the Cameroonian delegation led by the host country’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Mr Paul Atanga Nji, governor of far-north Cameroon, Mr Midjiyawa Bakary and some humanitarian officials.

Read also: UN condemns Banki camp attack, says victims refugees from Cameroon

The Nigerian delegation at the meeting included Zulum, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Malam Bashir Alkali, the Ministry’s humanitarian Director, Mr Ali Grema, and some top officials from the Nigerian High Commission in Cameroon.

The Boko Haram Insurgency in West Africa has displaced an estimated 3,4 million people across Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger.

In January 2019 an estimated 30,000 Nigerians fled the town of Rann fearing a ‘visit’ by Boko Haram.

Such occurrences place an additional strain on already strained relationships, as is the case with Nigeria and Cameroon.

“In this remote and desert environment, the needs are tremendously great in number,” says Geert Van de Casteele, the assistant representative in Cameroon for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, who travelled to Goura to meet new arrivals and assess their needs.

“It is about providing healthcare, food, water and medical assistance and to rapidly find resources with which to construct temporary shelter in a region characterised by particularly rough climate conditions,” Gusau added.

Together with the UN Development Programme and other partners, UNHCR has launched an appeal for US$135 million to help the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the worsening Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin region.

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