TRACKING____A recent report by Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), a European Union-funded project on the assessment by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) shows that there are 1,948,349 individuals displaced (IDP) in affected states in Nigeria.
The report covers the period of 20 October 2018 to 20 January 2019 and reflects trends from the six states most affected by displacement: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
With the coronavirus officially labelled a global pandemic, the focus for many countries has turned towards protecting their most vulnerable populations.
But what about camps for refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)?
Many camps lack the resources to maintain their already poor infrastructure, and the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak puts millions of displaced persons in a dangerous position.
For example, in the IDP camp in New Kuchingoro Abuja, Daniel Solomon, who coordinates visitors said, “according to what we have heard about coronavirus, they said someone can contact it more easily during raining season and as you can see we are getting close to raining season. That means that it will kill all of us.
“Since we heard of the coronavirus, we did not wait for any health or government official to come and give us any talk in the camp.
“We are aware that there should not be any gathering that will have more than fifty people, but as you can see, we have also read on social media how this deadly disease is killing a lot of people.
“With this, our environment that has no ventilation what we normally do is to create awareness for ourselves. With the latest development, we have even stopped the normal gathering.
“As I speak to you, we are not expecting any help from the government, because there is no help that can be more than taking us back to our states. Right now we are renting lands from Gwari people to farm because we cannot continue to depend on the government.
“Since the outbreak of coronavirus, it was just three days ago that a retired nurse came with some people to talk to us concerning the deadly disease.
“Honestly, this government has really failed us. Sometimes I wish the government can relocate us to Cameroun. It will be better for us.
In all of these situations IDPs in an active warzone and IDPs in camp settings—entails challenges to mitigating the impact of the virus. These vulnerable populations, especially those in camp settings often live in overcrowded environments with several family members in a tent or cramped apartment.
Social distancing and self-quarantine which are the key components of the current COVID-19 mitigation strategy are virtually impossible in such conditions.
It is in everyone’s interest to protect displaced persons from an outbreak like COVID-19. Some of these camps have workers that go home every day, and if they are infected, the virus can easily spread.
