A new upsurge of violence in northeastern Nigeria has forced thousands of people, most of them women and children, to flee their home – but many have been sent back across the border by Cameroonian authorities. Only a few remain on the Cameroonian side of the border, in Goura and Madina.
UNHCR is extremely alarmed by reports of the forced return by Cameroon this week of several thousand refugees into violence-affected Borno State in northeast Nigeria. This follows the forced return of 267 Nigerian refugees on 16 January who have arrived in Cameroon in 2014. We are gravely concerned for the safety and well-being of all these people.
An estimated 9,000 Nigerians fled across the border into Cameroon earlier in the week after militants attacked and ransacked the small border town of Rann in Nigeria’s Borno State. The militants went on a rampage by targeting military installations, civilians and humanitarian facilities. At least 14 people are reported killed.
Mohamed, 55 and his family have arrived in Cameroon the day after the attack, on the 15th of January.
Cameroon is currently home to more than 370,000 refugees, including some 100,000 from Nigeria~UNHCR
