Cameroun

Assistance to Nigerian refugees in Minawao in Cameroon's Far North Region

Geneva, 29 July 2013

1. Brief description of the emergency and impact

Increasing attacks of Boko Haram, the religious extremist group, throughout Nigeria and more recently in the North East of the country led to the serious deterioration of the security situation in the three states of Borno, Yobe and KL Adamaoua.

This unstable security situation has contributed to the displacement of the populations which resulted in the influx of refugees in Cameroon's far north region since June 10, 2013.

Following the Cameroon's government alert to the international community on the deterioration of the humanitarian situation at the Nigeria-Cameroon border, a UNHCR monitoring team who visited the Far North region on June 6th confirmed the influx of Nigerian refugees in three departments: Mayo Sava 4,205, Logone Chari 600 and Mayo Sanaga 3,323. A total of 8,128 refugees are pre-registered by the Government and UNHCR till July 15, 2013; women and youth under the age of 17 represent the majority with 59, 88%.

A site was set up on July 2, 2013 by UNHCR with temporary shelter at Minawao where 195 households composed of 830 refugees were transferred from Zhelavec village after registration ( 363 M, 467 F Source: UNHCR).

They left behind or lost all their properties and dignity, and now need protection of their rights while seeking a long term solution. Refugee's influx in the region will certainly strain Cameroon North and Far North regions where 350 000 people are estimated to be food insecure (Source: Global Emergency Overview).

2. Why is an ACT response needed?

Limited presence of national and international NGO is noted in the area where the emergency occurred. Besides the UN, only two organizations; Caritas and Public Concern, are actively involved under Government and UNHCR coordination.

ACT Alliance is represented in the area by the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon (CLBC) but no assistance is being provided due to absence of resources. UNHCR Cameroon has requested for an LWF intervention in the sectors of camp management and coordination.

3. National and international response

UN agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA) already present in the region intervene within their respective mandates in partnership with the local government.

In partnership with UNHCR, Public Concern a local NGO is the only implementing partner active in the newly set up site of Minawao but has not much experience in refugee settings.

4. ACT Alliance response

With support from LWF Geneva office, the LWF Chad program coordinator travelled to the area from July 13-16 to assess the situation. (Assessment report is available on request).

5. Planned activities

Provide food and non -food items to an estimated 4,000 Nigerian refugees to meet immediate humanitarian needs through the CLBC with resources requested through the ACT RRF mechanism.

6. Constraints

CLBC has limited human and financial resources to respond to this emergency and will need support from the LWF Chad program.

Any funding indication or pledge should be communicated to Jean-Daniel Birmele, Director of Finance (jbi@actalliance.org)

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.