Crime News
Cameroon Under Fire For Illegal Deportation Of Nigerian Refugees Tortured & Abused By Soldiers
September 28, 2017 – 100,000 Nigerian Refugees Illegally Deported By Cameroon Despite Plea By UN Refugee Agency
Cameroon Under Fire For Illegal Deportation Of 100,000 Nigerian Refugees Tortured & Abused By Soldiers
Cameroon has deported 100,000 Nigerian refugees in the hope of stemming the spread of terrorist group Boko Haram, Human Rights Watch (HWR) said on Wednesday.
The group said in its new report that the deportation defied a plea by UN refugee agency to not return anyone to north-eastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram killed thousands of people, until security and human rights situation improved considerably.”
The HRW report noted that the deported people were likely to face new violence, displacement and destitution.
The group, which investigates allegations of human rights abuses worldwide, says the report is based on interviews with more than 60 refugees.
It added that soldiers tortured, assaulted and sexually exploited Nigerian asylum seekers and denied them access to the UN refugee agency.
The rights group claimed Cameroon deported, often violently, tens of thousands of the refugees since early 2015.
“The Cameroonian military torture and abuse of Nigerian refugees seems to be driven by an arbitrary decision to punish them for Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon and to discourage Nigerians from seeking asylum,” said HRW Associate Refugee Director, Gerry Simpson.
Boko Haram had posed steady threat to communities in north-east Nigeria and launched offensives in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
[NAN/DPA]
Lola O
September 28, 2017 at 1:06 PM
Nigerians should stay in their country and stand their ground, not seek baseless and false asylum in other countries. It is pathetic and laughable that Nigerians are seeking asylum even in Cameroon that was in shambles and facing serious internal crisis only a few years ago. If they can reorder their lives and fix their country, why can’t Nigerians fix their own country? Besides, Nigerians introduce new and often unheard of problems into any country that allows them to stay. Now Ghana is complaining about their children missing in alarming numbers plus armed robbery introduced into their community by mostly Nigerians. Why haven’t rich Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or UAE taken any of their fellow Muslim refugees from other countries? Do they know something that the rest of us don’t? Every country has the prerogative of protecting their own citizens above any other foreign interests. Period