The Federal Government has commenced the process of repatriating 91,000 Nigerian refugees from Cameroon.
The move, which is a tripartite arrangement between Nigeria, Cameroon and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), will ensure the repatriation of the Nigerians who are presently at the Minawao Refugee Camp.
The Head Humanitarian, Resettlement and Assistance Department, Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI), Dr. Sidi Ali, said the process was designed to back bring back the Nigerian refugees who were desperate to return to the country.
He said the federal government is hoping that by the end of February the final process of bringing the people back to the country would have commenced fully.
He said: ” As we speak the Nigerian, Cameroonian governments and UNHCR have formed the tripartite commission with the sole responsibility of bringing the refugees back to Nigeria. They are currently in Minawao camp in Cameroon. The processes has already began, we are doing the profiling, making arrangements and putting the reception centers in place. Initially we are looking at February, early February but by and large, we are hoping that by the end of February the final process of bringing them back into the country will commence.
“Considering the relocation of IDPs and stabilization of camps, returnees registration and profiling, the number of people that we are bringing back to the country from our neighbouring countries particularly Cameroon has grown from 80,000 last year to 91,000. It is a task that we must be able to accomplish in 2018 by putting all hands on deck to bring these people back to Nigeria.”
