Less than a week ago, over 1,400 people fleeing violence from armed groups arrived in several villages in the Maradi region, bordering Nigeria, according to United Nations figures. This population displacement, the first significant movement since the beginning of the year, is escalating the need for emergency aid in the area.
The majority are women and children; thus, 1,400 individuals streamed into three localities in the Maradi region of Niger last weekend, driven by clashes between armed groups and self-defense militias that occurred a few days earlier in the Isa commune, Sokoto State, Nigeria. The populations were instructed to leave within 72 hours.
On-site in Niger, several organizations are actively assisting them. Among these organizations is the Norwegian Refugee Council. According to Christelle Huré, Advocacy Officer at the West and Central Africa office, these individuals have left everything behind: “No possessions, no food, and no identification papers. In terms of needs, there is, of course, food, but also needs for shelter, healthcare, and access to water. The new displacements also pose significant challenges in terms of resource management for the communities already present, which are already very impoverished.”
In addition to emergency aid, the refugees need to be relocated further away from the border area for security reasons. “It’s a significant movement, the first of its kind observed since the beginning of the year, but it’s not the first influx of refugees. Consequently, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is already organized to relocate these individuals, notably to the village of Chadakori. They are being relocated to areas deemed safer and where they can also have better access to aid,” Christelle Huré adds.