Displacement due to the Boko Haram insurgency has now reached almost three million in Nigeria and other neighbouring countries.
This is according to figures released by the International Office of Migration (IOM) on Friday, indicating the crisis was worsening in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
The figures have until now been put at 2 million.
According to the Nigerian government-led Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), 2,24 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now living in northeast Nigeria across 13 states. They are in camps and host communities.
In Niger, displacement figures compiled by the government and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) show a total of 319 000 displaced people, 48 percent of them internally displaced 31 percent of them refugees from neighbouring countries and 21 percent of them returnees.
Cameroon is currently hosting 270 000 displaced people, according to IOM and UNHCR.
Some 63 percent are internally displaced, 24 percent are refugees and 13 percent are returnees.
IOM is among a number of organisations providing assistance to displaced victims of the Boo Haram crisis.
IOM’s work to provide assistance to 460 000 people in the region through the support of its partners, including the European Union and the governments of Italy, France and Japan.
“But we are currently appealing for US$25 million for urgent humanitarian assistance in the areas of shelter, camp coordination and camp management, and psychosocial support,” said IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa Richard Danziger.
– CAJ News