Where IDP spells hunger
Today, more than 40 million people fleeing violence, conflict and disaster remain within their own borders worldwide, a fact rarely discussed in the media. Christian Aid’s Sarah Rowe explains why we are speaking out about the world’s “invisible refugees”.
Patricia, her husband and two young children were forced to leave their home and flee into the bush in north eastern Nigeria after a brutal attack on their village. They walked for miles to seek refuge and then spent the next six months in a spontaneous camp, surviving through the compassion of others who helped provide them with food.
‘They burned our houses, our clothes and our farms. We don’t have anything to wear or to eat’, she explained.
Although Patricia has now been able to return home with her family, things are still a struggle as they attempt to rebuild their homes and lives.
‘Right now, we still need food because we have not harvested our farming yet. And it is only peanuts we have on our farms, we have no maize because there is no money to buy the maize’, she said.
Sadly, many other displaced people like Patricia have still not been able to go home — around two million people remain uprooted in north eastern Nigeria alone. Many are in dangerous or difficult to reach places, which means the extent of the need may not be fully known. In many areas, Christian Aid is the first and only organisation to respond.
We’re working to support both people who have been displaced, and the host communities where they find themselves seeking refuge, who are providing essential food, protection and clean water. This is critical, as many of the hosting communities are already poor and have to share what little resources they have available.
Many of those who have been displaced were farmers before they were forced from their homes. Having to flee from their land has destroyed not only their homes and families, but their livelihoods too, the only independent source for rebuilding their lives or providing food for their families. In areas where people have returned it is clear that communities have lost everything.
Food is now an urgent need for millions of people. Right now in Nigeria, two million people are suffering from severe and acute malnutrition.
One member of a community where we are responding explained: ‘Fear also prevents us from going far away into the bush to cultivate like we used to do before the attack’. The psychosocial effect of the attack and resulting displacement remains, with many living in fear that they will be attacked again.
Nigeria is not alone, as the world currently grapples with the biggest movement of people since the Second World War. In 2016 alone, 31.1 million people were displaced within their own countries —
that’s one every second.
At the UN General Assembly last September, global leaders came together for a Summit for Refugees and Migrants to address the numbers of people being forcibly displaced around the world.
It was the first time that a high level summit on the issue had been called.
Speaking up for internally displaced people
However, despite this breakthrough moment, there was little mention of the 40 million internally displaced people within their plans, which focus on refugees (displaced people who cross borders) and their host countries.
In the coming months, Christian Aid will be asking the international community and the UK Government to take action and recognise the millions of people made homeless within their own borders.
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