NAN-H-68
Visit
By Lizzy Okoji
Abuja, March 2, 2018 (NAN) Mr Skye Justice, the U.S. Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa, has visited Cross River State to ascertain the living condition of Cameroonian asylum seekers currently living in the state.
A report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Nigeria Office disclosed this in a report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
The report stated that Justice was accompanied by Mrs Maria Davydenko, Political Adviser, U.S. Consulate-General in Lagos and Mr Josiah Flomo, Head of the UNHCR sub-office in Calabar.
It identified the locations visited as Obanliku Local Government Area, Uphill Obudu Ranch and Amana, Ikom and that the delegation met with community leaders including chiefs and youth leaders.
According to the report, the delegation and their partners — Rhema care and Nigerian Red Cross Society — interacted with the asylum seekers in Uphill Obudu Ranch and distributed food to them.
The report stated that Nigeria and Cameroon were already grappling with one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 2.5 million people displaced by Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad region.
It stated that the current influx of Cameroonians seeking refuge in Nigeria posed additional challenges to the international community.
It said that most of the asylum seekers complained of insufficient food, inadequate and poor accommodation, lack of drugs and the lack of education facilities for the children, among many other challenges.
The report further stated that a joint rapid inter-agency Needs Assessment exercise led by the UNHCR, was conducted in Boki, Ikom, Obanlinku and Akamkpa local governments of the state from Feb. 14 to Feb. 17,
It found that there were gaps in the core priority areas of food, non-food items, shelter, health and education.
In the report, Flomo noted that many of the asylum seekers lived with host communities and had managed to cope so far.
“We continue to monitor and work with the state authorities to manage the situation as this influx places a burden on communities who have limited resources, Flomo said.
According to the report, since the influx began in October 2017, UNHCR, together with partners, have been providing food and basic relief items to the aslyum seekers.
It stated that as the number of asylum seekers fleeing the unrest in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon into Nigeria continued to grow, the items remained largely insufficient.
It disclosed that the U.S. was currently the largest donor to the UNHCR Nigeria.
The report further stated that the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) sought to provide protection, ease suffering, and resolve the plight of persecuted and uprooted people around the world.
It said that these objectives would be achieved by providing life-sustaining assistance, working through multilateral systems to build global partnerships and promoting best practices in humanitarian response.
The report stated the Bureau would also ensure that humanitarian principles were integrated into U.S. foreign and national security policy.(NAN)
LIZ/NKO/NKO
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Edited by Nkechi Okoronkwo