Roundup: Nigerian refugees living in deplorable conditions in Chad

Over 11,000 Nigerians who fled to Chad to escape attacks of the Boko Haram militant group in Nigeria are living in deplorable conditions, humanitarian organizations have said.

"During the first days of 2015, close to 7,300 people fled from Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria's Baga village, to take refuge in western Chad. Thousands of these people are distributed in various villages near Lake Chad, while some are being hosted by local communities," the first situation report released early this week by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has shown.

The UN High Commission for Refugees and Chadian authorities have said there are currently 11,300 Nigerian refugees living in Chad. About 726 Chadians had equally returned from Nigeria.

Humanitarian sources said majority of those arriving are women and children because many of the men were either killed or separated from their families during the attacks.

The United Nations Children's Fund has said so far there are 89 unaccompanied children.

"Given the upsurge of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, the influx of the population risks to continue and this will worsen the humanitarian situation," OCHA statement said.

Initial estimates by humanitarian organizations showed that only 5,000 Nigerians would be seeking refuge in Chad in 2015, a figure that has already been surpassed.

"Humanitarian needs are multiple not only for the refugees arriving from Nigeria, but also for the local community," the report said, adding that "living conditions in host villages had become very difficult."

The report pointed out that humanitarian organizations were facing logistical challenges because majority of the refugees left Nigeria with nothing. It proposes immediate provision of shelter to rescue the families from cold wind coming from Lake Chad.

Access to the affected people also remains a logistical nightmare for humanitarian organizations since they sometimes have to go through Lake Chad using dangerous boats to the refugee camps.

At the same time, the report continued, Nigerian refugees are also in need of food since most of them were already vulnerable back home. Even worse, OCHA adds, 32 percent of the Chadian population living near the Lake is already facing food insecurity situation.

With regards to health, the key concern is treatment of the sick and prevention of epidemics such as diarrhoea, respiratory infections, malaria, cholera and measles.

There's also need for provision of maternal and infant health services, the humanitarian organization revealed, adding that improvement of existing health facilities in the Lake region should equally be prioritized.

Finally, the Nigerian refugees do not have access to clean drinking water, hence exposing themselves to diarrhoea-related diseases. OCHA noted that majority of them were using water from the lake, making it necessary for the launch of an awareness campaign on good hygiene practices.

Due to the massive influx of Nigerian refugees in the Lake region, Chad's Prime Minister Kalzeube Payimi Deubet last week appealed for "solidarity and support" from the international community for the benefit of all those arriving from Nigeria. Endi