Niamey – Thousands of people have arrived in Niger after fleeing fighting between armed groups in northern Mali, a United Nations report said on Friday.
In a separate development, around 4 000 Nigerians who had taken refuge in southeast Niger from Boko Haram jihadists were repatriated to their community across the border, a mayor in Niger said.
Nearly 18 000 people from both Mali and those from Niger who lived in Mali fled the Malian communities of Inchinana, Azaragane, Anderamboukane and Tamalet to take refuge in Tillaberi and Tahoua in western Niger, a UN report said.
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“More than 400 civilians are believed dead because of the conflicts,” among armed groups, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which cited security officials.
Some of the refugees were receiving assistance from the World Food Programme.
Mobile clinics set up by local and international charities were ensuring health care for many, including testing for malnutrition among children.
It said the refugee flows came as the humanitarian situation continued to worsen because of the poor security and food situation.
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Niger, especially its western part, suffers from a serious food crisis created by drought and jihadist violence which prevented farmers from cultivating their fields, according to the UN and officials in Niger.
Tillaberi in the tri-border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger and Tahoua have been since 2017 the scene of murderous activities carried out by armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
As of February 2, 2022, these two regions hosted 61 042 Malian refugees and 134 330 internally displaced people, according to OCHA.
Nigerian refugees repatriated
Meanwhile Around 4 000 Nigerians who had fled Boko Haram jihadists and taken refuge in southeast Niger for eight years were repatriated to their communities across the border, the local Niger authorities said on Friday.
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The repatriation operation had been initially set for December 2021 and concerns a total of 129 835 Nigerians, the United Nations said.
“This first repatriation operation started on Thursday and some 500 households, some 4 000 people, have already been returned to the Nigerian city of Malam Fatori”, Laoula Hassane Katchalla, the mayor of Bosso commune, told AFP.
Bosso is 3km from Malam Fatori on the banks of Lake Chad, a Boko Haram stronghold.
Since 2014, the refugees lived amid the people of Bosso, the first city in Niger targeted in February 2015 by jihadist fighters.
The refugees men, women and children left Bosso aboard small vehicles and large trucks packed with baggage, according to Laoula Hassane Katchalla.
The operation is organised by the Nigerian federal state of Borno, which has re-established adequate water, health and schooling in Malam Fatori, the mayor said, adding that repatriation operations would take place later.
The vast majority of Malam Fatori’s 30 000 residents fled when the jihadists seized it in November 2014 to make it one of its biggest strongholds in northern Nigeria.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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