The UN has expressed concerns about the swelling numbers of people fleeing English-speaking areas of Cameroon for Nigeria, saying it is particularly worried over the safety of women and children.
William Spindler, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), decried the precarious situation of women and children, which made up about 80 percent of the approximately 10,000 registered refugees in Nigeria’s Cross River.
“Some of these are boys and girls who fled to Nigeria alone unaccompanied and separated children are particularly vulnerable. UNHCR has received numerous reports that children have to work or beg to survive or to help their families. Many reported that they were unable to attend school, for lack of time and money. Thousands more are among the population of unregistered Cameroonians in neighboring states, where some of the children are unaccompanied and vulnerable.” Spindler said.
“UNHCR is working with the Nigerian authorities to assist with the reunification of separated children with their families, to provide unaccompanied children with protection services and to restore the basic right of all children to education,” he added.
He said some of the children fleeing to Nigeria told UNHCR that they had been out of school in Cameroon for all of 2017. “For women, the lack of work combined with the over-stretched reception facilities, creates a higher risk of sexual and gender-based violence, particularly from survival sex. While only a limited number of cases have been recorded, mainly in the Amana community of Cross River state, UNHCR is concerned that many more cases go unreported or are referred only to community elders. Incidents of domestic violence, as well as cases of teenage pregnancies involving girls as young as 14, have also been reported,” the spokesperson elaborated.