Boko Haram: Nigerian Refugees Flood Cameroon

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said  between 4,000-5,000 Nigerians  arrive each week in the far north of Cameroon,  from the North eastern zone of  the country.
The UN’s special representative for Central Africa, Abdoulaye Bathily warned that the refugee situation there was on the verge of a disaster.
They arrive at the already teeming refugee camp in Minawao in northern Cameroon, where they join the thousands of Nigerians who have fled the insurgency.
“Sometimes 70 of us sleep here, sometimes 80,” refugee Apollos Luka said, pointing at the tent that he has lived in  the camp with family for the past three months.
The population of the camp, which squats on an arid plain ringed by mountains, has shot up to 18,000 from 6,000 in just two months.
About 70 percent of those new arrivals are women and children who need immediate assistance in the form of food, shelter and medical care.
“If nothing is done urgently, it is very likely that a humanitarian catastrophe will follow that would further complicate the security challenges,” he said.
“When they (refugees) arrive there are no toilets… people cook and do their business outside, it’s terrible,” said Luka.
Camp officials admit they had to rush to build toilet as well as water facilities and were unprepared for such an influx of humanity.
An elderly refugee Barma Mala said, as his hands shook, that it’s nearly impossible to get enough to eat.
“There is not enough food, th ey distribute rations once per month only,” he said. “We eat nothing but rice and corn..We do what we can to teach them to write, read and count. But it’s complicated in these conditions,” said teacher Albert Tamta, who has 156 students in his class. “We lack a lot of things, especially notebooks.”
Some have already endured these conditions for years, with no end in sight. Boko Haram recently denied it had agreed to a ceasefire, as was claimed by the government.
“It’s impossible to go home, it’s too dangerous,” said refugee Ayuba Ishaku, who fled Gwoza a year ago. “I would like to work here in Cameroon, but they do not speak the same language as we do. I feel a bit lost.”