TheCable

The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre (SHAC), a human rights group, has blamed the Borno state government over the plight of at least 100,000 refugees recently expelled from Cameroon.

Cameroon is currently home to more than 370,000 refugees, including some 100,000 from Nigeria, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Recently, the Cameroonian government started the eviction of the refugees with larger proportion of the affected persons being women, children and persons that are infirm on account of old age, injury or poor health

SHAC, which said it had been tracking the plan by authorities in Cameroon to evict the refugees in the country, fingered the Borno state government in the ugly development.

At a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Thomas Ejuma, executive director of the group, claimed that Cameroon made the decision to sack the Nigerian refugees as pariahs because the Borno government failed in its responsibility to its displaced citizens.

“SHAC is shocked that Cameroon could be contemplating this move knowing that the larger proportion of the affected persons are women, children and persons that are infirm on account of old age, injury or poor health,” he said.

“The process of returning these families to Nigeria is fraught with risk since Boko Haram has been known to operate on the Cameroonian borders, which implies they could be attacked in their way back.

“The development poses questions about Cameroon’s commitment to long-term peace in the region since its tepid support for Nigeria’s quest to end Boko Haram’s reign of terror is a factor that contributed to the dislocation of the Nigerian refugees that is now planning to force outside its territory.

“Cameroon got to this arrogant stage of treating Nigerian refugees as pariahs because the Borno tate government failed in its responsibility to its displaced citizens. Without intent to politicise this matter and without prejudice to the ongoing debates about the mechanics of Nigeria’s federalism, the Borno state government failed to act in a way that will promote the fiscal federalism being canvassed across the country. It shirked its responsibility to create the situation were women, children and the aged have been put through hell and they are likely on a ride into the core of hell going by the plan of the Cameroonian authorities.”