A report by Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an independent humanitarian organization has ranked Nigeria among the top countries with the most neglected displaced people camps in the world.
According to the report, the current war between Russia and Ukraine has highlighted the immense gap between what is possible when the international community rallies behind a crisis, and the daily reality for the millions of people suffering far from the spotlight.
The NRC’s report ranked Nigeria in the league of DR Congo, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon among others on the top lists of the world’s most neglected displacement crisis based on 3 parameters namely; media reach, humanitarian appeal fund, and political neglect.
Concerning Nigeria, the report said in the “north-east, where the majority of families are thought to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity, over one million people remained out of reach of aid organisations”.
Amnesty International says the Boko Haram conflict, now in its twelfth year, has displaced over 2.9 million people in Nigeria’s northeast and hundreds of thousands to neighboring countries. Most of the internally displaced people are in Borno State, the epicenter of the conflict, living in host communities and the camps.
The Norwegian refugee council also held that 13 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance in Nigeria with the northeast having the highest number of displaced persons. These populations are also affected by serious food shortages.
“Insecurity meant that humanitarian workers could not travel outside of the city of Maiduguri by road, leaving them heavily reliant on UN helicopters to reach people in need,” the NRC’s report said.
The report says five camps had been closed by the end of 2021, leaving 66,000 displaced people searching for a home once again.
“The international community continued to neglect the crisis and made very little effort to intervene or remove the barriers preventing the delivery of much-needed aid. Insecurity and a lack of access prevented significant media coverage of the crisis,” the report explained.
In 2022, the NRC’s report says the authorities continue to implement their plans to close formal displacement camps and return refugees to neighbouring countries.
“Food security levels are expected to deteriorate in the upcoming lean season, with the highest gap between needs and funding since 2016,” NRC report said.
In its recommendations to donor governments, the NRC suggests the need to provide humanitarian assistance according to the needs of people affected by crises, and not according to geopolitical interests or levels of media attention.
“Seek to overcome fatigue around particularly complex or protracted crises,” the report explained.
The report recommended the need for increased flexible and longer-term predictable funding. This development is expected to increase humanitarian response and address overlapping factors such as conflict, displacement, and recurring climate-related disasters.
“Hold your government and politicians to account against aid commitments and policy pledges by writing letters, signing petitions and submitting questions to national parliaments,” the report explained.
Over the last 5 years, Nigeria’s neglect of displacement has continued to deteriorate but the Norwegian refugee council held that it is difficult to leave the list once a country has joined but the reverse was the case for Nigeria in 2018.
Dataphyte’s findings showed Nigeria didn’t appear in 2018 on the list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises but reappeared on the list as the 8th most neglected displacement crisis in 2019.
Some IDPs in Nigeria have reported an epidemic of diarrhea, malaria, and malnutrition due to abandonment by the government which has led to deaths in these IDP camps.
Findings showed the neglect by the government aggravates the violation of human rights and increases the vulnerability of these internally displaced persons.
To change the narration, suggests that the UN Security Council (UNSC) and member states must ensure neglected or protracted crises across Africa are given adequate attention by the relevant bodies.
“This includes dedicated geographic and thematic meetings, and tabling resolutions where appropriate,” the report said.
The NRC report advised the UN’s security council to ensure that counterterrorism measures and sanctions do not unintentionally impact humanitarian organisations working in difficult operating environments.
“Use your mandate to urge all conflict parties to respect international humanitarian law; where violations are identified, support international accountability mechanisms,” the report said.