National Commission for Refugee Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) is set to repatriate 20,000 Nigerians from Chad and Cameroon to Nigeria.
The commission said 6,000 people would be brought from Chad while 14,000 would come from Cameroon in the next two months.
The federal commissioner for NCFRMI, Aliyu Ahmed, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, at a Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting on the voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees.
According to the commission, most of the refugees were displaced by the 2022 flood, the Boko Haram crisis, the farmer-herders clash and the current climate change challenge.
He said, “The commission spearheaded the evacuation of our people who are living in Cameroon, in 2022 and 2023, and about 5,000 of them were repatriated back to the country.”
He further stated that the Tripartite Working Group (TWG), a committee responsible for the arrangement and integration towards the evacuation of their refugees, is duty-bound to ensure that the remaining Nigerians living in Cameroon move back to the country. Additionally, measures are in place to repatriate those in Chad.
“We are also 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.
“We are looking at returning 3000 households from Chad, which is about 6,000 people who would be repatriated 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,” he said
He stated that their meeting revolved around working towards repatriating their people from Chad and continuing the repatriation of those in Cameroon while ensuring adherence to international best practices.
He said rehabilitation is ongoing in Bunkie and in Barger construction of some houses by the Borno state government for the safe return of their people.
“We are making arrangements with the Borno state government to ensure that most of them that will be returned back to the country were taken to skill acquisition centers.
“Borno State has very magnificent skill acquisition centres ready for the return. As soon as they return, we’ll give them some training, and then we’ll give them a better life,” he said.
“Our partners, the UNHCR, I want to appreciate you for all the contributions that you have made towards the resolution of disability, and every member of the TWG is committed to providing support. We are united in ensuring the welfare of our citizens. Thank you, and I appreciate our partnership,” he said.
The deputy representative (Protection), UNHCR Bernadette Mutakale Muteshi, expressed gratitude to the federal commissioner and members of the tripartite working group for their presence and contributions to the discussions.
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