The Nigerian government has announced plans to bring back over 6,000 Nigerian refugees from Chad and Cameroon.
Tijani Ahmed, the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugee, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), revealed this in Abuja on Tuesday
Approximately 21,000 Nigerian refugees are currently in Chad, with an additional 14,000 in Cameroon.
The repatriation process, set to conclude within two months, will start with the return of 6,000 individuals from Chad. Plans for repatriation from Cameroon will be finalized soon.
“We are arranging to bring back those who are interested in returning because repatriation is voluntary and an agreement has been signed between UNHCR, the government of Cameroon and the federal government of Nigeria in the area of repatriation of our people from Cameroon.
“We are going to work towards the repatriation of 6,000 Nigerians out of about 21,000 of them in Chad.
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“We are looking at returning 3000 households from Chad, which is about 6,000 people from Chad to Nigeria.
“For Cameroon, we have about 14,000 people but we will profile them because we don’t have to force anybody to return. Arrangements are underway to get them back. Within the next two months, we should have concluded the arrangement on repatriation.”
The refugees, displaced by various crises including floods, Boko Haram insurgency, and conflicts between farmers and herders, will receive training and start-up packs for sustainable livelihoods.
“We will try to ensure that this process happens as soon as practically feasible by putting all elements together and we hope to support a credible process.
“We want to ensure that the basic human rights of these people are observed and upheld and we hope that all arrangements can be in place to meet the aspirations of people that we care for,” Ahmed added.
