United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, condemns in the strongest terms the twin attacks in western Niger that killed at least 100 people, injured 25 others, and forced hundreds to flee on 2 January.
Armed groups mounted coordinated attacks on the villages of
Tchamo-Bangou and Zaroumdareye, in Niger’s Tillaberi region near the border
with Mali. Some of the injured were evacuated to Ouallam and Niamey, 80 and 120
kilometres away respectively.
“We express our deepest condolences to the families of the
victims of these outrageous attacks on peaceful communities,” said UNHCR’s
Representative in Niger, Alessandra Morelli. “Communities which are now torn
apart by brutality and forced to flee in a region where tens of thousands of
people displaced by violence are hosted and hoping to rebuild their lives.”
According to local sources, the survivors of the attacks and
the population of four other neighbouring villages have fled. At least 1,000
people are now on the move, trying to reach Ouallam. Many are making the
journey on foot. In Ouallam, UNHCR and its partners are already providing humanitarian
assistance to refugees, internally displaced people, and the vulnerable among
their hosts.
“We are preparing to assist the people with essential care,
shelter, and protection, but also psychological support to help them overcome
the horror they have experienced” said Morelli. UNHCR and Niger authorities are
exploring ways to increase the reception capacities in Ouallam.
Niger’s Tillaberi and Tahoua regions, located near
Liptako-Gourma which borders Burkina Faso and Mali, currently host 60,000 Malian
refugees and nearly 4,000 who fled Burkina Faso. It also hosts 138,229
internally displaced Nigeriens, a number that increased by 77 per cent in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic is complicating the humanitarian
response.
Despite increased insecurity, Nigeriens continue to show
their generosity to people fleeing violence in Africa’s Sahel and Lake Chad
regions.
Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali in the Sahel are at the
epicentre of one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement and protection
crises. The region is already hosting 851,000 refugees and nearly two million
displaced inside their own country.
Source: APO
