Afimag.com –
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has revealed the number of Nigerian refugees in Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic, saying that it has risen to 339,669.
According to Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, about 17,000 increase from the 322,000 was recorded in September 2021, as a result of the insecurity in different parts of the country.
The refugees were victims of terrorism in the North-East and the banditry-turned-terrorism in the North-West, including the killings and kidnappings across the country.
In 2021, the analysis consists of 16,634 in Chad; 118,409 in Cameroon, while Niger Republic has 186,957. But data by the UNHCR on ‘Nigerian refugees by country asylum’ demonstrated that as of November 30, 2022, the number of Nigerians taking refuge in Niger Republic had increased to 187,130; 132,151 in Cameroon and 20,388 in Chad.
The report indicated that a chart on the website revealed that as of April 23, 2014, there were only 3,069 refugees in the three countries.
The figure however rose to 37,388 in December 2014; 41,478 in January 2015; 82,064 in January 2016; 200,380 in January 2017; 205,620 in January 2018; and 272,077 in January 2019.
By January 2020, the figure rose to 279,408; 305,656 in January 2021, 328,005 refugees in January 2022 and 339,669 on November 30, 2022. The
number of Nigerians searching for asylum in the three countries strengthened its growth despite the promise by the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, in March that the safe return of Nigerians displaced by the insurgency in the North-East from Cameroon, Niger and Chad would be treated as an emergency.