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         Nigerian Refugees in Cameroon Moving Away From Volatile Border

   by Lisa Schlein

   The U.N. refugee agency reports increasing numbers of Nigerian refugees
   in Cameroon are moving away from the volatile border area to a UNHCR
   camp in a more secure region farther inland.

   Nigeria's presidential election in March has done nothing to stop Boko
   Haram's destructive behavior.  People continue to flee from violence in
   the country's northeast.  Refugees who previously had fled to Cameroon
   to escape the violence in Nigeria are feeling increasingly threatened
   by cross-border attacks from the militant group.

   The U.N. refugee agency says Nigerian refugees who were camped along
   the border in Cameroon's remote Far North Region are seeking shelter at
   a refugee camp some 100 kilometers away.

   It says about 100 people each day are arriving and being registered at
   Minawao camp, which is run by the UNHCR and partners.  Agency spokesman
   Leo Dobbs says the camp population has risen from about 30,000 late
   last year to around 44,000 today.

   He says most of the new camp arrivals had earlier fled from Borno State
   to escape militant Boko Haram attacks.  He says until now the refugees
   have stayed close to the border hoping they could return home quickly.

   "Now, we, and the government have been encouraging people to move
   further south to safe areas to Minawao where they can be helped and
   where they are safer," Dobbs said.  "The volatility of the border was
   borne out earlier this month when there ...have been a series of
   attacks and clashes including a suicide bombing on July the 12th, the
   first such attack in Cameroon.  It took place in the northern town of
   Fotokol."

   The UNHCR has limited access in the Far North Region because of
   security concerns.  Nevertheless, it estimates some 12,000 unregistered
   refugees are living along the border.  The Cameroonian authorities
   believe that number may be as high as 17,000.

   Dobbs says the government has begun registering Nigerian refugees in
   the area.  He tells VOA the registration process is provoking fear
   among some refugees that they might be returned to Nigeria against
   their will.

   "There is always a fear of people being forced back and we have, in the
   past, urged the authorities in Niger and Cameroon to keep their doors
   open to refugees and not to send people back against their will," he
   said.

   In a separate development, the UNHCR says some 2,500 Nigerian refugees
   reportedly have arrived in the Diffa region of southern Niger in the
   past few days.  This follows an attack by Boko Haram militants on the
   Nigerian town of Damassak early last week.  It says most of the new
   arrivals are women, children and the elderly.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerian-refugees-in-cameroon-move-fr
   om-volatile-border/2872052.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerian-refugees-in-cameroon-move-from-volatile-border/2872052.html