A local hero: How one man is making a difference for the internally displaced people in his country

A Silent Majority: Internally Displaced People

More than 65 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide, 40.8 million of whom are displaced within their own countries and known as internationally displaced people (IDPs). Violent conflicts and natural disasters cause people to flee their homes, but because they do not cross international borders, IDPs are far too forgotten.

The results are devastating. Boko Haram has created a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s north-east region. Over the last six years more than 2 million people have been forced to flee towns and villages across northern Nigeria’s Adamawa, Borno, Gobme and Yobe states, as their homes and farms have been razed to the ground by the violent terrorist group. Fields remain unplanted, and hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in inaccessible areas without food, water and basic health services. This has been going on for three consecutive years. Those who managed to escape went to Borno’s state capital, Maiduguri, finding shelter with host families, but consequently placing a colossal strain on the local population. Prior to the arrival of the internally displaced people, Maiduguri’s population was approximately 1 million; it now tops 2.4 million.

This massive surge of people is equivalent to the entire population of Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, fleeing to Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. Households normally comprising between seven and 10 people are now accommodating up to 80 people in a tiny space. Not everyone was fortunate enough to have relatives in the city: approximately 700,000 of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now living in either official IDP camps or ad hoc sites scattered throughout the city, often in extremely poor conditions. People who flee their homes due to violent conflicts or natural disasters do so with the expectation that they will return in a matter of days or weeks. However the stark reality is that they more often cannot return for years, sometimes decades, as conflicts or disasters continue, claiming their homes and destroying hopes of peace and security and a return to their homes of origin. The situation in Maiduguri is not sustainable.

The Kindness of Strangers

Baba Kura Al Kali is a local land owner and businessman living in Maiduguri’s New Prison district. Distressed by what he saw happening to his fellow Nigerians, Baba decided to lend a helping hand by creating an ad hoc site on his own land. “I am a very lucky man,” Baba told OCHA. “Allah (God) has provided well for me, and now it is His wish that I contribute to helping those who need it.”

One afternoon Baba noticed internally displaced, Bulama Khalil. Bulama was standing outside Baba’s garage, which is attached to 5,000 m2 of land. The head of Mandarin, a village some 35 kilometres from Maiduguri that was once home to 5,000 people, Bulama explained “I had never met this man in my life. He asked me if I was displaced, and when I told him what had happened to my village, he invited us onto his land.” Now more than 1,855 people from Mandarei are now housed in make-shift shelters on Baba’s land, along with another 1,200 people from other areas. 53-year-old Isha is one of those people. Originally from Bama, she fled from Boko Haram violence, bringing her daughter and granddaughter. Some of her own children and other family members were killed by Boko Haram. “We are here for one year now,” said Isha. “I am married over 40 years, but now that my husband has left the town to go and look for work and food, we have nothing.” The long-term needs of IDPs must be met with new approaches and solutions, which will require close collaboration between humanitarian and development actors. Failure to adequately acknowledge and address the growing needs of IDPs and their host communities will deteriorate any hope for self-reliance and push even more people into desperation.

Meeting the Challenges

At the entrance to Baba’s site, four men work on a borehole to provide water for the residents. But first the land needs proper drainage, and there are fears that the unsanitary conditions will cause an increase in potentially fatal waterborne diseases, such as typhoid and diarrhoea. Shelters were provided for the residents after Baba requested the humanitarian community’s assistance. Although many of the residents are farmers and could potentially cultivate food, they have yet to return to the land to plan crops for fear of violence. The traditional lean season, which runs from August to October, normally sees food shortages. But with fields now lying fallow, hunger is exacerbated and malnutrition rates are rising. The food shortage means prices are rising by as much as 300 per cent, leaving many families foraging for grass to boil for meals. The World Food Programme is registering families around Maiduguri using biometric technology, which enables them to receive food vouchers. Mobile phone company, Airtel is contracted to transfer ₦17,000 per month (US$53) for each registered family. This is the cost of the average food basket based on a family of five to eight people. As the international humanitarian community tries to keep up with the demands, the world needs more people like Baba Kura Al Kali: Men and women who identify the desperate needs of their fellow citizens and are willing and prepared to go beyond the call of duty and respond to the despite the personal cost.

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