Biya opens new schools for refugees, internally displaced persons

President Paul Biya has made available, circa 4 billion FCFA for the opening of new schools and the refurbishment of old ones in the Far North region for internally displaced persons and refugees.

The governor of the Far North made the revelation yesterday, February 25, in a meeting with administrators of construction companies in the region. The contractors were told that government has already taken security measures to ensure the safety of workers on construction sites, especially in areas which have been attacked by Boko Haram.

There are over 40,000 refugees in the Far North region, of which 32,000 live in the Minawaou camp, constructed by the UN High Commission for Refugees on a vast piece of land offered by government. Emmanuel Rene Sadi, Minister of Territorial Administartion and Decentralisation, stated in Yaounde yesterday that the number of refugees in the Far North region is likely to hit 50,000 this year.

He was addressing participants in an Ad Hoc inter-ministerial committee set up last year to coordinate assistance from national and international NGO’s and other donors supporting Cameroon to handle its rising humanitarian needs arising from the influx of refugees fleeing insecurity from the Central African Republic and Nigeria.

Civil status protection was equally on the agenda during this meeting in which it was pointed out that there are individuals among the refugees who committed gruesome acts in their countries of origin before escaping into Cameroon.

Besides issues of education, the coordinator of the UN systems in Cameroon told The Cameroon Journal shortly after the meeting which was attended by Martin Mbarga Nguelle, Delegate General for National Security, Ministers and other top government officials, that there are problems of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Northern regions of Cameroon. She said internally displaced persons equally need as much attention as refugees from Nigeria.

The Minawaou Camp which habours over 32 thousand people made up of men women and children has one primary school where over 600 pupils go to every morning.

Pupils go to school without didactic materials and the teachers themselves do not have an effective means of evaluation. They are being thought by fellow refugees who were teachers in Nigeria, assisted by some teachers of Cameroonian nationality.

48-year-old Ibrahim Fulewis is a refugee from Nigeria. He says some of the pupils who are attending school in the camp have not been to school for about 3 years due to Boko Haram attacks. “There is not enough food to eat, not enough water and medical assistance is inadequate.

It is worse to people who suffer from diabetes. We only eat rice, rice, rice, no change” he said. “We want the people from Cameroon to help us. If God helps and there is peace, we would go back to Nigeria; if not, we will just remain here. There is no problem staying here.”

In the meantime, Cameroon has received humanitarian aid from Russia and the EU. The EU plans to open up a regional office in Yaounde for its humanitarian and civil defence department.

Jean-Louis de Brouwer, the department’s Director of Operations announced in a press conference in Yaoundé Feb. 20 that the EU is putting at the disposal of Cameroon FCFA1.96 billion as financial aid to the growing humanitarian needs in the country.