UN to halt forceful repatriation of Nigerian refugees

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UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says it is taking urgent steps to intervene in the forceful repatriation of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon.

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Mr Volker Turk, UNCHR Assistant Commissioner for Protection, made the disclosure on Monday in Abuja during a visit to the Minister of Interior, Mr Abdulrahman Dambazau.

He said that the aim of the visit was to discuss with the Nigerian and Cameroonian governments on the forceful repatriation of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon in the past months and to stop further unlawful repatriation.

Turk described the forceful repatriation of the refugees as a `breach’ of the international principles of refugees’ protection and the recent tripartite agreement signed between the two countries in March.

He said that the tripartite agreement stated that the return of refugees must be done in safety, dignity and by the choice of the individual.

The UNHCR chief said that the agreement by Nigeria, Cameroon and the UNHCR was signed after the regional protection dialogue in June 2016.

“I am here again to follow up on some of those areas in particular the tripartite agreement on the voluntary returns of Nigeria refugees signed by Nigeria, Cameroon and UNHCR.

“ The tripartite agreement puts forward some very important principles and these principles are that return of refugees must take place in conditions of safety and dignity.

“It must be done by a free and informed choice of the individuals.

“Both parties have agreed to uphold the agreement but unfortunately, in the last couple of months and just recently last week we have seen instances where thousands of Nigerians have been forcefully repatriated.

“We are very worried that people were not voluntarily returned to Nigeria and this is a problem for the international community, for the people concerned and for the country.

“We have to ensure that we find a way to channel this into a constructive way forward and we hope that in the forthcoming tripartite commission meeting all these issues can be addressed,’’ he said.

Responding, Dambazau assured the UNHCR of the Federal Government support and partnership in all its interventions in Nigeria, as it is all for the interest of national peace and development.

Dambazau said that the tripartite commission would sit very shortly to discuss on the urgent implementation of the tripartite agreement to avoid further forceful repatriations.

He said that the challenges and issues that affected refugees across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad should be tackled with a regional approach and should be respected by all parties involved.

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Dambazau said that the ministry would continue to play its role to ensure proper implementation of the tripartite agreement.

The minister said that all grey areas would be sorted out by UNHCR Protection Chief and his team after their visit to Cameroon.

In her remarks, Hajiya Saiya Farouq, Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) commended UNHCR for its timely intervention.

She said that the continuous influx of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon had been a great worrisome.

Farouq said that the current situation had led to secondary displacement for the refugees as they were not supposed to return from a refugees’ camp to another one.

She said that Nigeria has kept to its own ends of the agreement and called on UNHCR to urge the Cameroonian authorities to keep to their own part of the agreement.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on March 2, the governments of Nigeria, Cameroon and the UNHCR signed a tripartite agreement, a legal framework that sets out modalities for the voluntary return of refugees.

The Cameroonian authorities did not keep to its part of the agreement as it forcefully repatriated over 19,257 Nigerian refugees from the Minawowa refugee camp and the Kolofata Northern region of the country.

The Cameroonian government said that they discussed with Nigeria to facilitate the return of the refugees as they suspected that some of the refugees included some members of Boko Haram.

The influx of the refugees had raised concerns of the UNHCR and the international Communities.

Naija247news
Naija247newshttps://www.naija247news.com/
Naija247news is an investigative news platform that tracks news on Nigerian Economy, Business, Politics, Financial and Africa and Global Economy.

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