After a long journey to the border, hundreds of returnees are exhausted, dehydrated and hungry
DAKAR (AlertNet) - Hundreds of Chadians, including many children without their parents, who have fled clashes in northern Nigeria between troops and a militant Islamic sect need shelter, food, water and medical assistance, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
“Some had to walk for seven days to reach the Chadian border, so they are exhausted, dehydrated and hungry,” said Qasim Sufi, the IOM’s chief of mission in Chad.
The nearly 1,000 returnees from Nigeria, who have settled in makeshift huts in the Chadian village of Ngouboua, are surviving on food given to them by locals who do not have enough themselves.
Ngouboua, 30km from the Nigerian border in Chad’s Lac region, has been experiencing food shortages like other areas of West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel region, according to Sufi.
“This (returnee situation) is a new and acute emergency, a problem on top of an existing problem,” Sufi said on the phone from N’Djamena.
Those in urgent need of assistance include women, the elderly and a large number of children between the ages of 6 and 14, he said.
Most of the children had been sent by their parents to Nigeria to study in Koranic schools, and were accompanied only by religious teachers known locally as Marabout.
CHILDREN BEGGING
The IOM said an assessment team it sent to the region jointly with the Chadian government saw several children begging for food.
Many are also suffering from exhaustion and dehydration following a long journey and exposure to the elements, it added.
Some of the group are sleeping in makeshift huts, and others are living in the open with inadequate clothing to protect them from the cold at night, it added.
Many of the returnees have been out of Chad for many years, and will require transportation to return to their places of origin, the IOM said.
The organisation wants to open a temporary monitoring office at the Chad/Nigeria border to register and cater for new arrivals.
“There were 40 new people on Monday and 20 others arrived on Tuesday before our assessment team left the area - which means this (influx) could continue,” Sufi said.
Nigerian immigration services reported on Monday that they have repatriated some 11,000 “undesirable” foreigners, mainly from Chad and Niger, the IOM said in a statement.
The Nigerian military has been involved in operations to dismantle the Islamic sect Boko Haram which has been perpetrating violence in the country’s north, including attacks on churches and schools.
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