- A civil society organisation has appealed to the House committee on IDP to help address the issue of refugees in the country
- The chairman of the IDP and refugees committee promised that the bill seeking to establish a refugee commission would soon be passed into law
- Disclosing that over 36,000 Camerounian refugees are already in Cross River, he appealed to the federal government to provide humanitarian services to the refugees
The House of Representatives committee on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and Refugees says no fewer than 36,000 Camerounian refugees are harboured in Cross River state.
The chairman of the committee, Mohammed Sani Zorro, made the disclosure on Wednesday, January 24, at an interactive session with officials of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in Abuja.
According to Zorro, no less than seven council areas, including Boki, Obudu, and Itu had been flooded by the refugees, Guardian reports.
Zorro also claimed that the refugees had also flooded neighbouring villages in Taraba and Benue states.
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He said that over 70% of the refugees were women and children forced out of their country due to the activities of the Camerounian gendarmes.
Zorro appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene by providing humanitarian services to the refugees in line with Section 36 of the Geneva Convention that prohibits the deportation of asylum seekers.
Expressing the fear that facilities like schools and hospitals could be over-stretched in the affected areas, he warned that the situation poses dire security and economic consequences to the country.
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The lawmaker promised that that the bill seeking to establish a refugee commission would soon be passed into law.
An official of CISLAC, Austin Erameh, urged the committee to address the refugee menace.
NAIJ.com previously reported that the Cross River government on Sunday, January 21, provided food and non-food items to over 3,000 Southern Cameroonian refugees camping in Ikom local government area of the state.
The items included rice, plantain, beans, yam, garri, palm oil, cartons of indomie, toiletries and cooking utensils.
Presenting the items, Governor Ben Ayade of the state disclosed that the intervention was to give succour for the hardship and displacement experienced by the refugees.
Ayade, who was represented by Mercy Akpama, the managing director, Cross River food bank commission, said that his administration places premium on the welfare of residents in the state.
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Source: Naija.ng