“Stop forcing Nigerian refugees to return home”, UN tells Cameroon.

The UN has expressed concern over the forced return of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon in spite of recent tripartite agreement aimed at ensuring voluntary returns of nationals.

The refugees are part of the millions displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria. Majority of the displaced are internal within Nigeria with neighbouring countries like Cameroon and Niger hosting the others.

About 100,000 people have been killed since the insurgency started in 2009.

According to a statement from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday, Cameroon has forcefully returned more than 2,600 refugees back to Nigerian border villages “against their will”.

UNHCR spokesperson, Babar Balogh, said in the statement that the organisation was particularly concerned “as these forced returns have continued unabated”.

Mr. Balogh recalled that the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon signed a tripartite agreement with UNHCR in Yaoundé on March 2, 2017.

He said that the forced return of asylum-seekers and refugees was a “serious violation” of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 OAU Convention, which he said, Cameroon had ratified.

He, however, commended Cameroon for its generosity in hosting more than 85,000 Nigerian refugees but urged it to honour its obligations under international and regional refugee protection instruments.

The spokesman said that refugees had fled violent attacks from Boko Haram and urged that “their access to asylum and protection must be ensured”.

“Insecurity persists in parts of north-eastern Nigeria and access to basic services remains limited.

“Most returning refugees find themselves in situations of internal displacement upon return and are unable to return to their places of origin,” he stated.

He also said that UNHCR recognised the legitimate national security concerns of the Cameroon Government.

 

Source: NAN

“Nigerians Must Go”, Cameroon forcing Nigeria refugees home.

The UN refugee agency has criticised Cameroon for the forced return of hundreds of refugees to north-east Nigeria after they had fled from the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency.

The UNHCR said forced returns had “continued unabated” despite an agreement earlier this month.

Under the deal, any returns would be voluntary and only “when conditions were conducive”.

This year, more than 2,600 refugees have been forcibly returned to Nigeria.

Many are unable to go back to their villages in Borno state for security reasons and have ended up in camps for displaced people.

In some cases, the UNHCR said, people had been returned “without allowing them time to collect their belongings”.

UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch spoke of “chaos” in the returns process and said “some women were forced to leave their young children behind in Cameroon, including a child less than three years old”.

Many of the returnees are now settled in the Banki camp for internally displaced people.

UNHCR staff also recorded about 17 people who claimed to be Cameroonian nationals, who it said had been deported by mistake to Banki.

It is common in the region to find people who have no documentary proof of their nationality.

The Cameroonian authorities have not responded to the UNCHR comments but have previously said Boko Haram militants have been entering the country disguised as refugees.

Militants have carried out a number of attacks in northern Cameroon in recent years, often using suicide bombers.

The UNHCR said forced return constitutes a serious violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 OAU Convention, both of which Cameroon has ratified.

It called on Cameroon to honour its obligations under the conventions and continue keeping its borders open so as to allow access to territory and asylum procedures for people fleeing the Islamist insurgency.

 

Source: BBC

UNICEF begs Trump to consider 28 million refugees

UNICEF has asked President Donald Trump to open the US to the 28 million children who have been displaced by the conflicts in their countries.

 

The organisation made this appeal following Trump’s executive order to temporarily ban refugees from seven war- torn countries.

 

“The needs of refugees have never been greater,” UNICEF said.

 

“Worldwide 28 million children have been uprooted by conflict, driven from their homes by violence and terror. They need our help.

 

“The United States has a long and proud tradition of protecting children fleeing war and persecution. We trust that this support will continue and that the recent measures will prove to be temporary. All refugee children need our support.”

 

UNICEF said it is committed to working with governments and other partners around the world to help some of the most vulnerable children everywhere, from Syria to Yemen to South Sudan.

 

Trump temporarily banned immigration from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia, and indefinitely stopped Syrian refugees from coming to the United States.

 

Source: The Cable

Germany’s ‘Mr Flirt’ Teaches Refugees How To Pick Up Women

The subject was pickup lines, and Germany’s “Mr. Flirt” offered a few examples to his class of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. “I really love the scent of your perfume,” he suggested. “You have a beautiful voice.” He invited his students to take a stab.

Essam Kadib al Ban, 20, raised his hand. “God created you only for me,” he said, then tried another: “I love you. Can I sleep over at your place?”

Horst Wenzel winced, but caught himself quickly.

“Don’t tell them you love them at least for the first three months of your relationship, or they’ll run away,” he explained patiently. “German women don’t like clinginess.”

Wenzel, 27, makes his living teaching wealthy but uptight German men how to approach women. But this year, he decided to also volunteer his skills to help Germany as it struggles to integrate more than 1 million refugees who have arrived over the past two years, most of them from war-torn Muslim countries with vastly different relations between the sexes.

“Finding a relationship is the best way to integrate, and that’s why I’m giving these classes,” Wenzel said.

Last week, in downtown Dortmund, he offered his third installment of “How to fall in love in Germany,” taking 11 young men through the paces. The students conceded they had a lot to learn.

Omar Mohammed, a shy, 24-year-old goldsmith from Syria with spiky black hair and almond-shaped eyes, said he’s attracted to German women, with their Nordic looks and punctuated accents. But they remain a mystery to him, and he has no idea how to approach them.

“It’s hard to meet a girl when you don’t speak the language well and can’t really talk to them,” he said. “There are a lot of differences, not only the culture and religion — we just don’t have this total freedom at home.”

Still, he said, “I’d love to marry a German woman and live with her. She could help me with the language, and she knows the place and the laws much better than I do.”

Some German women were receptive to the idea. Jasmin Olbrich, having a quick lunch of French fries at a food truck outside the educational center, said she liked the Middle Eastern looks and complained that German men “drink too much beer, watch way too much soccer and are just so white!”

Read More: yahoo

No refugees will be sent to US this year – Australia PM

Australia’s prime minister said on Monday resettlement to the US of many of the 1,200 asylum seekers held in prisons on Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island of Nauru would begin after president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Whether Trump honours the deal Australia reached with the outgoing Obama administration, and announced earlier this month, will provide an early test of the new president’s anti-immigration stance.

Campaigning for the presidency, Trump started by advocating a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US, but later adjusted his stance to propose that the ban should apply to people from nations that had been “compromised by terrorism”.

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Sunday that the US had agreed to take a “substantial” number of the 1,800 refugees held on Manus Island and Nauru. Many of them are Muslims who have fled conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Under Australia’s tough border security laws, asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat are sent for processing at detention centers on Papua New Guinea’s Manus island and Nauru under conditions harshly criticised by rights groups as well as the UN.

Former employees from Nauru have also spoken to the media about widespread abuse at the camps, including violence against women and the sexual abuse of children.

The resettlement deal came after Turnbull’s government agreed in September to accept people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of Australia’s annual intake of 18,750 asylum seekers, to support a resettlement plan for Central Americans drawn up by Washington.

Turnbull said on Monday the first refugees to be resettled in the US would not come before the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Trump.

“The process will continue for some months. The United States won’t be short-cutting their security or health checks,” said Turnbull.

Potential Trump veto

Analysts said the timing could prove awkward for Turnbull.

“It looks pretty clear that the resettlement deal was done as a quid pro quo after Australia agreed to resettle Central American refugees,” Peter Chen, professor of political science at the University of Sydney, said.

“But by holding off and starting the process in the expectation that Hillary Clinton would win the US presidency, it gives Trump the ability to reject the deal.”

Over the weekend, Trump said his administration would deport up to three million immigrants in the country illegally who have criminal records. While campaigning, Trump said he would deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

Should Trump veto the deal with Australia, the detainees would be left with the choice of returning to their home countries or remaining in Nauru or Papua New Guinea.

A veto would force Turnbull to search for another country willing to take them while facing growing outrage both at home and internationally over the treatment of the refugees.

Turnbull said he remained confident that the new US administration would stand by the deal, stressing that it didn’t require any increase in the US’s annual intake of asylum seekers.

Syria, Nuclear Arms & Refugees Top UN Assembly Agenda

World leaders are arriving at the United Nations headquarters for an annual confab with hopes of addressing everything from superbugs to climate change and a global anti-poverty drive that is already faltering in its first year.

Presidents, diplomats and their delegations must also broach impromptu items, such as North Korea’s recent nuclear test. A US air raid that allegedly killed at least 62 Syrian government soldiers on Saturday threatens a fragile truce in that country and sparked fresh rows at the UN.

On top of that, the United States, Russia, China and other UN heavyweights must see beyond their differences and agree on who will run the world body once the incumbent, Ban Ki-moon, steps down at the end of the year.

On Monday, the UN will host a summit for refugees and migrants that may have already failed – countries refused to commit themselves to a UN target of resettling 10 percent of refugees each year.

The outcome is a “watered-down version of what we had hoped for”, Erol Kekic, from the refugee aid group Church World Service, told Al Jazeera, adding that denying hope to the world’s 21 million refugees was “irresponsible and frankly dangerous”.

A separate meeting on refugees, to be hosted by US President Barack Obama on Tuesday, will probably gain more traction, not least because any leader showing up must come bearing gifts. Guests will be giving cash, letting more refugees into their countries or helping them find jobs.

Obama’s presence raises a question all of its own. His internationalism has buoyed UN meetings over the past eight years, but he leaves office in January and US voters have yet to decide who will replace him.

Read More: aljazeera

 

British Man to Face Jail In Dubai For Sharing Facebook Charity Post Urging People To Buy Blankets For Refugees

A British man, Scott Richard, 42, has been arrested in Dubai and held without charge for 3 weeks after he shared a Facebook post on charity telling people to buy blankets and other items for refugees in Afghanistan.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it’s a crime to organize donations or advertise charities not registered in the country.
According to the law,  charities not registered in the UAE can only be promoted with the written approval of the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai.
Mr Richards, who had been working in Dubai as an economic development adviser, says he’s been denied access to a lawyer and he’s been denied bail.
He faces up to one year in prison and a fine of 100,000 dirhams (£20,000).

Nigerian Refugees ‘Brainwashed’ By Boko Haram To Become Suicide Bombers Head For Europe- Report

Thousands of Nigerian refugees indoctrinated in Boko Haram camps are heading to Europe’s shores as a famine intensifies, security sources have warned.

Five children are dying an hour with 250,000 at risk of starvation while parliament remains hamstrung in a political wrangle.

Despite being Africa’s oil-rich country Nigeria’s civil war with Islamic terrorists has left the north-east Borno region devastated with three million refugees.

Britain has committed to spending £860 million in foreign aid to Nigeria, which now boasts Africa’s largest economy, to help support the country’s efforts to crush Boko Haram terror group, which has been responsible for a spate of outrages, including the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.

But intelligence sources report human traffickers from the ISIS-backed terror group are transporting girls and young men across the Sahara into Libya.

Some trained suicide bombers and militants are heading for Europe while others are travelling to fight for Islamic State in Syria.

‘They will soon start showing up on the Mediterranean’s shores,’ a source linked to Nigeria’s National Intelligence Agency said.

‘Some of these people are trained suicide bombers and fighters, including children as young as ten. They have all been indoctrinated by Boko Haram and they could soon turn up in Europe’s capitals.’

Meanwhile Nigeria’s parliament is struggling to pass legislation as President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration presses ‘politically motivated’ charges against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Read More: DailyMail

FG Opens Talks With Chad, Niger On Return Of Boko Haram Refugees

The Federal Government has opened discussion with Chad and Niger authorities on the date Boko Haram refuges residing in the two countries would return to Nigeria.
This comes as the government  deployed 3000 policemen and 2,000 civil defence personnel in towns and villages reclaimed from the Boko Haram sect in Borno and Yobo states.
“We have made some deployments of police and civil defence; 3,000 policemen and 2,000 civil defence men are in towns and communities in the North East”, a source at the presidency and Ministry of Defence.
He lamented that the deployment of security personnel followed what he called some negative developments in the freed areas.
According to him, it was discovered that Boko Haram members were returning to communities liberated by the military, explaining that the government had to act swiftly to check the ugly development.
“We have met with Chad and Niger on the return of refugees that reside there,” the source said.
Meanwhile, major reforms are underway for police and other paramilitary agencies to help refocus and reenergise the parastatals, Daily Sun   gathered.  The reforms, currently  being worked out by a government committee centre mainly on the mode of appointment and selection of new  Inspector General of Police, Comptroller General of Immigration and Prisons.
According to sources,  when the new reforms are concluded, no police, immigration or prisons services officers would be considered for the position of IGP or Comptroller General if he or her has less than a year and six months left to retire from service.
“The new recommendation is that a new IG or Comptroller General of Immigration or Prisons must have up to 18 months before his or her retirement,” one of the sources disclosed.
“The reason for this reform is to ensure that somebody who is being appointed would have enough time to carry out policies and impact on the agency he is heading.
“It is not good that somebody who has less than a year is appointed to the position of IG or Comptroller and thenyou hear the person is pulling out or retiring. His impact would not be felt by his Organisation.”
The source disclosed that a high powered committee set up by the leadership of the Ministry of Interior is working on the new arrangement.
“A committee was set up to work out other details and the committee is doing its job”, he said.
As part of the reform , another source revealed that a bill that that will seek the operation of police academy under a law will be sent to the National Assembly in the next few weeks.
He explained that the move was informed by the realization that there is no law backing the operation of  police academy at the moment.
“Government wants to legalize the operation of police academy. As at today Police Academy is not operating under any law . And that is shameful”, he said.
He said the reforming of the Police, Immigration and Prisons would place emphasis on training of staff and provision of facilities that would help the staff to discharge their duties.
He said “We will have to develop career pattern in our ministry. We have to train Prisons and Immigration staff . There are some staff who have spent 15 to 25 years without undergoing any training. That is absurd.”
On the issue of herdsmen and what the federal government is doing to end the controversies that have trailed their activities in different parts of the country, the source said the  government will soon hold a town-hall meeting on the matter.
According to him, he said that everything effort must be made to ensure that herdsmen do not bear arms and do not engage in fatal confrontation with other Nigerians.

Credit: Sun

FG, UNHCR, Republic Of Cameroon Sign Agreement To Return Nigerian Refugees

The Federal Government has signed a tripartite agreement with the UN High Commission for Refuge (UNHCR) and the Republic of Cameroon for the return of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon.
Muhammad Sidi, the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), disclosed this when an AU Humanitarian Mission led by Dr Aisha Abdullahi, AU’s Commissioner Political Affairs, visited the agency in Abuja.
Sidi, in a statement signed by Sani Datti, NEMA’s Information Officer, said that “80,000 Nigerians are taking refuge in Cameroon and are being catered for by the Federal Government”.
He commended the Federal Government, state governments affected by the insurgency, the UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and the private sector for supporting the refugees.
The NEMA director-general also thanked all the development partners and donor agencies for working tirelessly in supporting the Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) and the government and people of Nigeria.
Sidi said the organisations had “done a lot in the past four years to manage large numbers of IDPs in the North-East”.
He said with the war against Boko Haram almost over, the stakeholders in the humanitarian response “have moved from the emergency response stage to recovery and resettlement of the IDPs”.
He urged the visiting AU commissioner to use her office to seek more assistance and support for the persons and the states affected by the insurgency.
Abdullahi had said that the AU team was in Nigeria to assess the humanitarian situation and to discuss areas of possible support.
The statement quoted her as saying that the displaced Nigerians were of concern to the AU.
“The records available to AU indicate that there are about 13 million displaced persons and three million refugees on the continent.
“I commend the efforts of the Nigerian government and the military for degrading and minimizing the activities of the insurgents in the North-East.
“The AU will continue to give more attention to the issues of displacement through interaction and focus on addressing the root causes of conflicts in Africa,’’ Abdullahi said.

 

(NAN)

27 Migrants Die After Boat Capsizes Off Turkey’s Coast

At least 27 migrants have died off the Turkish coast trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, Turkish media say.

 
The victims, including 11 children, drowned when their boat capsized after setting off from Balikesir province.

 
About 400 people have died crossing into Europe in 2016, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says.
Most were travelling to Greece on their way to northern Europe. Recent fighting in Syria has sent thousands of people fleeing towards the Turkish border.

 
The sea route from Turkey to Greece was the most popular way for migrants trying to enter Europe in 2015.

 
In the latest incident, Turkish media quoted official as saying that 40 migrants set out for Lesbos from the Altinoluk area early on Monday. They say their boat capsized two miles (3.2km) into the crossing.

 
Hurriyet newspaper says the vessel was using a new route, because security forces have stepped up moves to deter migrants from taking their chances.

 

The paper also denied earlier media reports that another migrant boat had capsized further south off Izmir province.
News of the deaths came as Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Turkey to discuss ways of reducing the number of migrants travelling to Europe.

 
After talks with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Mrs Merkel said they had agreed to seek help from Nato – both countries are members – in handling the migrant crisis.
She said they would use the next meeting of the alliance to consider “to what extent Nato can be helpful with the surveillance situation at sea” and support the EU border agency Frontex.

 
Syrians are not being allowed to pass into Turkey at the Kilis border crossing

 
The IOM says more than 68,000 migrants arrived on Greek shores in the first five weeks of 2016, despite often stormy conditions. This is a huge rise from last year, when the figure for the whole of January was less than 1,500.

 
Nearly half of those who have arrived in Greece this year are from Syria, the IOM says.

 

 

Credit : BBC

‘How Can I Forgive Her?’ – Syrian Refugee Tripped By Camerawoman Speaks

The Syrian refugee who was tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman as he held his terrified son in his arms says he cannot forgive her.

Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab was trying to cross the Hungarian-Serbian border when he was tripped by Petra Laszlo, causing him to fall on top of his seven-year-old, Zaid.

The father-of-four has spoken to MailOnline from Germany, one day after completing their treacherous 12-day journey from Turkey, which included boarding a rubber dingy to reach the Greek
island of Kos
Mr Alghadab, 52, originally from war-torn Deir ez-Zor in Syria, and his son suffered bruises when they were tripped as they were attempting to escape the crush of a large crowd of refugees.

‘There were thousands of people and they were holding us there until a coach came to take us to the border,’ he said. ‘It was a very small area with a huge crowd.’People started to lose patience and wanted to walk the 10km to the border – the police were standing there to stop people going.’It was chaotic, people started to push. I didn’t see where it came from, I didn’t know if it was a camerawoman or a policeman. I just felt myself falling to the ground.’

Mr Alghadab, who has since seen the footage of the incident and another clip of Ms Laszlo (who has since been fired) kicking a young girl, added:

 ‘How can I forgive her?’

She has since apologised and claimed ‘something snapped’ inside her.

Mr Alghadab suffered bruising on his chin when the Hungarian camerawoman tripped him and Zaid had bruises on his leg and chin.Later in the evening, Zaid was vomiting as a result of the shock, his father said.

Responding to Ms Laszlo’s claims that she thought she was being attacked at the time, Mr Alghadab added: ‘People would not attack the media because the media were very nice to the refugees.

Istifanus Yaro :On Europe And An Unprecedented Refugee Crises, My Take

Hordes and hordes of men, women and children are knocking on the doors of Europe in a manner never before experienced. These are adjudged to be people running away from war thorn Syria,   Saudi-shelled Yemen and the overall uneasiness characterising the Middle East at this very moment. This is even more so with ISIS expanding the frontiers of a new, resurgent Islamic state.

The policy of the West had a triggering effect, resulting in to the kind of humanitarian crises being witnessed today. The arming of rebels in Syria, the divided stance on the part of the permanent membership of the UN Security Council where one country supports the beleaguered Assad Regime while others support the rebels is a recipe for a protracted war.

One of the legacies of the Libyan war is an internal instability that has created a breeding ground for terrorists and lunching pad to the rest of the world. Libya now provides a window into Europe from an anarchical environment that is now the state of Libya.

With a policy that has consistently shown Africa as a jungle of disease, starvation, conflicts and failed states, it is little wonder that Africans increasingly become drawn to Europe. We have been inundated with stories of Africans ready to undertake the deadly journey across the Sahara desert into Europe. These dogged journeymen considered it far more dignifying to die in the desert or drown in the Mediterranean than to live in the throes of abject poverty. The allures of Europe is that attractive.

At the height of the Ebola scourge, ‘Ebola diplomacy’ was used to further undermine Africa. CNN ascribed numbers constituting those who lost their lives to the Ebola pandemic. Those numbers, affixed to west African countries, depicted a dehumanizing situation that was only expected to get worse, and the numbers bound to increase.

America was depicted as the great nation, whose citizens cannot be allowed to  die in the disease-infested jungles of Africa. An SOS mission was launched and the American doctor who was cured of the ailment read a pre-scripted note while proclaiming his recovery ‘a historic moment’ for America and for himself. When Nigeria, with lesser drama and showmanship, surmounted the scourge, America ate the humble pie and sent emissaries to understudy the methods employed by the most populous black country in the world. The Ebola diplomacy failed woefully. But in the minds of those fixated with thoughts of the West as eldorado, the systematic diplomacy of persistently downgrading Africa has resulted into an inferiority complex that even a feat such as Nigeria’s defeat  of Ebola cannot warrant any re-valuation.

Those that undertake the journey-of-no-return to Europe have lost every sense of rational thought that they wouldn’t bother to know that Europe today is dithering under great economic uncertainty. Just recently, David Cameron has embarked on foreign diplomatic shuttles to woo investors to the UK! By the year 2050, according to a recent PWC report, the UK would ease out of the World’s Top 10 Economies while Nigeria as one of the foremost world economy. It is really not surprising as close observers have since noticed the recurrent indices of an economy that is loosing steam on a number of fronts. This probably is the reason why Fareed Zacharia in an article in the Washington Post recently acclaimed that ‘the Great Britain has resigned as a World Power’. But our brothers and sisters that commit all they have including their lives to making it into Europe do not realise that it is far easier to be free on the shores of their ancestors than it would be elsewhere.

On the whole, the blame for the unprecedented scramble to European shores rests substantially on the West. Western policy often cast the rest of the world as either Third rate or Third World. Those who now want to make it at all cost into Europe are orphans of western policies. But it must be said that terrorist could also hide under cover of seeking political asylum to make to Europe thereby extending the frontiers of the Islamic State.

There is a scar on the conscience of the West, which ought to lead to a realization that the sooner a solution to the humanitarian crisis is found, the better it would be for the security of Europe and the world.

By Istifanus Yaro (public servant, researcher, writer and poet)

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Adamawa Returning Refugees Receive Relief Aid

Internally-displaced persons (IDPs) that have returned to their communities the military recently liberated from insurgents in Adamawa State have received a major boost after government commenced the distribution of relief material.

The Federal Government has commenced the exercise through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Vice President, Namadi Sambo, has flagged off the distribution in Mubi. The relief support consist of food and non food items including bags of rice, maize, building materials, blankets and several other household items. Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Sa’ad Tahir, represented him.

He assured the commitment of the Federal Government to strengthen security in areas through adequate support for the military deployed to ward-off the insurgents.

Tahir identified some of the strategies adopted by the government for the areas affected by the insurgency to include proper equipping of security, relief distribution to the affected persons through NEMA, setting up of the Presidential Initiative for the North East, the Safe School Initiative and the Victims Support Fund among others.

The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi, explained that the incumbent President Dr Goodluck Jonathan had also constituted a special team to undertake a comprehensive damage and loss assessment that would serve as a guide for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the communities as well as restoration of the means of livelihood of the people.

Sidi also assured the continued commitment of NEMA to support people affected by disasters in the country including the displaced persons.

Adamawa, alongside Borno and Yobe, have been under emergency rule for some time owing to terror by the Boko Haram sect. Some refugees that were displaced from their homes have gradually returned after the military announced successes against the terror group.

Credit: CAJ News

130, 000 Syrian Refugees Fleeing ISIS to Turkey

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Syrian refugees who have reached Turkey in the past 4 days, fleeing the advance of Islamic State militants now totals 130,000, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said Monday.

Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey is prepared for “the worst case scenario” should more refugees stream in.

The refugees have been flooding into Turkey since Thursday, escaping an Islamic State offensive that has pushed the conflict nearly within eyeshot of the Turkish border.

Although the numbers are high, Turkey says it is ready to react and respond to the conflict in Syria, which has pushed more than a million people over the border in the past 3½ years.

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