By Cyprian Ntiamba Obi Ntui In Yaounde
The visit of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, Antonio Guterres to the Minamao refugee
camp in the Far North region of Cameroon last week unveiled statistics that
have alarmed not only Cameroonians but the international community.
The high commissioner accepted that
there were now more than 350,000 refugees in Cameroon all of them victims of
wars in Nigeria and the Central African Republic. But the Minamao refugee camp which
habours refugees from Nigeria was constructed to take only 18,000 inmates. The
capacity of the refugee camp in the East region cannot be bigger.
Therefore, the size of the total
refugee population as against available facilities can give one an idea of the grim
picture of what is going on in refugee camps across the country. That this huge
number of people has been left to survive over the years with little or no assistance
from the international community is what disturbs Cameroonians. This is because
Cameroonians know how the United Nations and her agencies like the UNHCR react
when catastrophies occur else where and how refugees resulting from such
situations are treated, especially if they are in the developed world.
Living such a large number of
distressed persons at the mercy of natives and periodic hand outs from the Cameroon
government shows how insensitive the world is to human suffering, especially if
this is in Africa.
It is against this backdrop that
Antonio Guterres, virtually in tears appealed to the international community to
act fast to reduce their suffering. “It is necessary for this generosity shown
by Cameroonians to the suffering of Central Africans and Nigerians to receive the
solidarity of the international community." He stressed the need for any
forth coming aid to be substantialin comparison to due trickles that use to
come from so called rich nations in the past. “It is necessary to increase
humanitarian aid significantly so that we can give to Nigerians, Central
Africans and local communities all the assistance they need during this difficult
period," Guterres called out.
He also urgsd donor nations to
help Cameroon economically and security wise describing Cameroon as the first
line of defence for humanity as a whole. ''I will use this opportunity to
stress the need for greater solidarity with Cameroon and neighbouring nations that
arc suffering from this violence resulting from a humanitarian drama."
The high commissioner also
admitted that there were some 20,000 Nigerian refugees in the Logone and Chari
division of the Far North region of Cameroon who are left completely on their
own but added that the UNHCR would like to take custody of them if facilities were
available.
Apart from foreigners, Guterres
said there were also between 96,000 and 120,000 Cameroonians who are internally
displaced by the war in the Far North region who also need assistance from the
UNHCR.
The governor of the Far North
region, Midjiyawa Bakari who received the high commissioner said it was a
welcomed visit that would enable the visitor observes firsthand the grim reality
of what the government and the host communities were going through. “We hope your
visit will bring immediate results and shorten the suffering of these
people," the worried governor opined.
For his part, Jean-Louis de
Brouwer director of operations in charge of humanitarian aid at the European
Union who accompanied the high commissioner on the visit said the EU had, since
the beginning of this year increased humanitarian aid by fifty percent with
much of it directed to their partners, the HCR and the World Food Programme,
WFP. “This visit has enabled us to assess the magnitude of the humanitarian situation
and take note of the insufficiency of international aid." Jean -Louis de
Brouwer assured that the EU was doing everything at the level of Brussels to increase
aid to countries currently being attacked by the Jihardist sect. Boko Haram. ''
Cameroon is on the front line but also Chad, Niger and Nigeria," he disclosed.
