The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has lamented
the alarming rate at which the number of refugees and Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) continue to grow daily on every Continent.
A dispatch from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja says the UN Refugee
Agency's concern was contained in a special statement by the Agency's
High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres which was read by his Representative
to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Madam Angele Dikongue-Atangana during an event
held to commemorate this year's World Refugee Day in Nigeria.
The UNHCR Nigeria office, in collaboration with the National
Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs (NCFRMI), formally
commemorated the event in Abuja on Monday, June 22, 2015 at a well
attended program in Abuja.
According to Guterres, "Their numbers are growing and accelerating,
every single day, on every continent. In 2014, an average of 42,500
people became refugees, asylum-seekers or internally displaced persons,
every single day - that is four times more than just 4 years ago. These
people rely on us for their survival and hope. They will remember what
we do".
He noted that more people fled last year than at any other time in
the records of the UN Refugee Agency. He further disclosed that almost
60 million people have been displaced by conflict and persecution with
nearly 20 million of them being refugees, and children more than half.
For her part, Madam Dikongue-Atangana, who lamented about Nigeria's
over 1.5 million IDPs, disclosed that there were about 2,000 refugees
and asylum-seekers in Nigeria. She however stated that although such
number constituted a small proportion, given Nigeria's 170 million
population, the 1.5 million IDP's are all potential refugees if the
world took no collective action in seeking their welfares which could
further push them into other countries to become refugees.
The Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, Madam Hajiya Hadiza Sani Kangiwa,
also speaking, said that the Nigerian Government was committed to
protecting all refugees and IDPs. She said the Nigerian Government was
doubling its efforts to cater to the needs of refugees and IDPs,
particularly in the northeastern Nigeria, which had been hit by an
insurgency.
Observed globally since 2001, World Refugee Day is commemorated on
June 20 each year to raise awareness about the situation of refugees and
displaced persons throughout the world. The United Nations General
Assembly declared it in its Resolution 55/76 on 4th December, 2000.
This year's event was celebrated against the backdrop of multiple
conflicts, growing numbers of forcibly displaced people and elevated
intolerance and xenophobia in many parts of the world.
The global theme was "Refugees: Ordinary People Living Through
Extraordinary Times. Showing Love And Restoring Hope To Displaced
People". The local topic was "One Family Torn Apart Is Too Many; One
Refugee Without Hope Is Too Many
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