Nigeria closes its refugee camps and plunges their occupants into disarray

Bakassi in Maiduguri no longer exists. This huge refugee camp with identical gray tents, lined up with a line, has hosted up to 33,000 displaced people from Borno State. In about ten days, it was emptied of its occupants.

According to the UNHCR, there are more than two million internally displaced people in Nigeria, but also 300,000 refugees in neighboring countries, who have fled the east of the country, the regions of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Many live in refugee camps located in particular in the city of Maiduguri, which has become a stronghold against Boko Haram in Borno.

However, the state government has already closed two refugee camps, including that of Bakassi, leaving nearly 63,000 people to their fate, according to the UNHCR. The authorities intend to close all the camps for the displaced in the country by 2026, in order to put an end to it, according to AFP, “dependency on humanitarian aid”.

The displaced are invited to return to live in their old villages, or as close as possible, when these were burned and razed by Boko Haram. They can also settle in areas considered safe by the authorities. The premise is simple : there is land to work, and therefore enough to live on.

Except that the security situation is not as rosy as Abuja claims. And NGOs refuse to deploy in most of these areas. UNHCR reports several attacks by either Boko Haram or EIslamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) on small towns, and civilians are paying the price.

But the insecurity is not limited to Borno State. Thus, twelve inhabitants of Daraga, in the state of Zamfara, in the north-west of the country, were killed during an attack by “bandits” on Friday 4 February. These terrorists even returned four days later, preventing the population from recovering and burying the bodies.

In this context, the populations are very divided as to a possible return to their lands of origin. Assistance offered by the authorities – up to 100,000 naira (210 euros) – insufficient for resettlement when you have lost everything: your house, your agricultural equipment. “Aid supposed to allow them to last three months, the time to resume cultivation of their land or to find another place to live”precise The world. In fact, the price of a room can reach 70 euros per night and some refugees claim to have spent all their savings just to house the family.

In addition, NGOs are strictly prohibited from providing any humanitarian aid to returning residents. Because there is no obligation to return to live in his village assure the authorities. But suddenly, with the closure of the camps, these populations find themselves in town, homeless, living off odd jobs and makeshifts, in a complete state of destitution. Some have still lived for nearly seven years in one of these now closed camps.

NGOs oppose these resettlements. “It is unacceptable to uproot people who have already lost everything in the conflict without dignified and lasting alternatives”, estimates Anietie Ewang for Human Rights Watch. From now on, the future is more than uncertain for these people without resources and left to fend for themselves in insecure areas.