The House of Representatives has decried the current approach of the Federal Government in addressing the plight of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in the North-East, saying the government’s support services were not reaching those affected.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, Refugees and Initiatives in the North-east, Rep Mohammed Sani Zorro (APC, Jigawa), expressed concern over the appalling condition and malnourishment among IDPs in the region.
While stressing that there was rapid deterioration of humanitarian situation in the North-east, the House noted that some agencies, saddled with the duty of responding to the plight of the IDPs, did not have the capacity to meet the requirements necessary for such services.
Zorro said in a statement issued on Monday: “The present chaos in the field can be traceable to the absence of concurrent plan(s) to respond to today’s internal displacement challenges triggered by intensified military campaign aimed at defeating Boko Haram insurgency.”
He held that for “inexplicable” reasons, the federal government had failed to embrace best global policy practices that would have helped significantly in attracting the commitment of genuine donor organizations and humanitarian agencies.
“The situation has been aggravated further by the refusal of the federal government to adopt and operationalize the well articulated national policy on internally displaced persons (IDPs), developed and updated over the years,” the statement added.
To contain the situation, the committee said the government should immediately appoint a “responsible, conversant and committed commissioner” and chief executive for the National Commission for Refugees, NCR.
The commissioner, the committee added, should be able to develop capacities and reposition the commission such that it could deliver on all mandates specified in the Geneva Convention and the additional protocol governing treatment of refugees and IDPs.
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