68% IDPs are children —Dogara

ABUJA—SPEAKER of the House of Representatives,
yesterday, said 68 per cent of Internally Displaced
Persons, IDPs, in Nigeria were children.
Speaking at the sensitisation workshop and launch of
UNHCR hand book, “On Internal Displacement for
Parliamentarians,” Dogara said statistics from the UNHCR
showed that 68 per cent of IDPs in Nigeria were children,
adding that there had been about 60,000 births in IDP
camps so far.
The speaker further
stressed that today’s
event offered the
opportunity to restate
the fact that there was
no adequate legal
framework for handling
issues of internal
displacement.
According to him,
though Nigeria at the
executive level has
ratified the African
Union Convention for
the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced
Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), it has not yet
been domesticated by the legislature.
He said: “We need to further explore the theme of this
handbook for parliamentarians, which is ‘Internal
Displacement: Responsibility and Action’, in a nutshell,
who and what is responsible for internal displacement
and what action is being taken by relevant authorities to
address the problem.
“For our purposes, I think we should adopt the description
of IDPs as ‘persons or group of persons who have been
forced or obliged to flee or leave their homes or places of
habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order
to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of
generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural
or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an
internationally recognized state border.’ (Article 1(k) of the
Kampala Convention).
“Large scale development and environmental projects can
also generate IDPs. What is clear from the above
definition is that IDPs are citizens of our country. They are
not refugees from another country.
“They are our constituents, some of who voted us into
office. As legislators, we have a duty and responsibility to
care for them, protect them, assist them, provide for their
needs, their welfare and to advocate on their behalf.”
“To be displaced or uprooted from one’s home is one of
the most degrading and humiliating experiences that can
befall any human being.
“They are very vulnerable and are exposed to all forms of
exploitation and misery, women and female children are
sometimes subjected to sexual abuse, and trafficking.
“IDPs lack appropriate shelter, food, water, sanitation,
healthcare, child protection and educational
opportunities.
“Access to money and work is severely limited or non-
existent. Statistics from the UNHCR show that 68% of IDPs
in Nigeria are children and there are so far about 60, 000
births in the IDP camps.
“The National Assembly has made its own contributions to
the fight against terrorism and internal displacement, over
the years.
“On the fight against Terrorism, we should recall that the
National Assembly speedily passed both the Terrorism
Prevention and the amendment Acts to aid the executive
in its anti terrorism measures.
“The House is also currently processing a Bill to
consolidate the anti – terrorism legislations into one
document for ease of use and reference”.
“The National Assembly has always supported all
budgetary requests from the Executive to fight terrorism.”
“The 8th House of Representatives and indeed the 8th
National Assembly is also ready and willing to provide the
legislative support that may be required of it in this
regard”.
On the issue of Internally Displaced Persons, Dogara said:
“Apart from creating a Standing Committee by the House
of Representatives, a Resolution, sponsored by me and
many other members, was recently adopted by the
House, which among other things; requested Mr President
to set up the machinery for the establishment of the North
East Development Commission and the convening of a
Donor Conference or Summit for the North East region
which will assist in solving the problem of IDPs.”
On domestication of laws, the speaker said:
“Domesticating the Kampala Convention, all legal and
institutional structures with respect to rehabilitation and
assistance of IDPs needs to be reorganized for better
coordination.
“In this regard, the National Commission for Refugees Act,
which is now known as National Commission for
Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons,
needs further amendment.
“Notwithstanding the fact that the Commission has been
formally designated by the Federal Government to cover
matters relating to Internally Displaced Persons and
coordination of Migration and Development, this
designation requires the backing of law in order to further
strengthen the Commission to discharge its mandate.
“Let me place on record, the appreciation of the House of
Representatives of the efforts of President Muhammadu
Buhari, to end terrorism and return our IDPs back to their
respective communities.
“In particular, the inclusion of Five Billion Naira (N5
billion) in the 2015 Supplementary Appropriation Bill just
submitted to the National Assembly, for victims of
terrorism for which IDPs, form a major part, shows
responsiveness on the part of Mr. President.
“Of course, we will expect even more support in the 2016
Budget Proposal and in this regard, we solicit the
continued cooperation and support of our development
partners, UN Agencies, Multilateral and Bilateral Partners,
international and National NGOs, International
Foundations, International Funds, Development Banking
Institutions and Agencies, such as World Bank, IMF,
African Development Bank, etc.
“The private sector organizations and Companies in
Nigeria cannot be left out in this effort.”