{"id":51420,"date":"2023-03-29T17:37:16","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T15:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/?p=51420"},"modified":"2023-03-29T17:37:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T15:37:41","slug":"nigerian-refugees-in-chad-will-be-repatriated-at-the-end-of-the-holy-month-of-ramadan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/nigerian-refugees-in-chad-will-be-repatriated-at-the-end-of-the-holy-month-of-ramadan\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian refugees in Chad will be repatriated at the end of the holy month of Ramadan"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 20,000 refugees living in Chad will be repatriated to Nigeria at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, says Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The refugees, mostly from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, fled from the country to escape vicious and frequent attacks by the Jam\u0101\u2019at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da\u2019way Wa\u2019l-Jih\u0101d (JAS), more commonly known as Boko Haram, insurgents.<\/p>\n

Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) took refuge in Chad and have been there for almost eight years.<\/p>\n

They have been waiting to be repatriated to their hometowns where there is now relative peace.<\/p>\n

RNI reporter Mahamat Moustapha Mainou said the refugees were first promised they would be repatriated two years ago but it did not happen. Now they have been promised by the Borno State government that repatriation would commence in April or May.<\/p>\n

Refugee Alhaji Gambo Umara said: \u201cThe governor visited us in Chad two years ago and told us we would be returned to our communities. But we are still here. I really hope he means it this time. I don\u2019t want to be disappointed again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we go back on our own we won\u2019t have money to repair our destroyed homes. We also won\u2019t be able to afford the transport. So, we are waiting patiently for the government to repatriate us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope the governor will keep his word because we want to go back to our hometowns and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaka Hajja agreed, saying the refugees faced many challenges in Chad but there was nothing they could do because it was not their home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope he [Zulum] will keep his promise this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bulama Mommodu said: \u201cThere\u2019s no place like home. I want to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zulum is not only the governor but is also the vice-chairman of the Presidential Committee on Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Refugees.<\/p>\n

On a recent visit to Baga Sola,\u00a0a town in the Lac Region on the shores of Lake Chad in western Chad, Zulum told RNI that the federal government had already made a plan to return refugees in Chad to Borno State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m purposely in Baga Sola to discuss modalities for the repatriation of the refugees and very soon we shall embark on the repatriation exercise after the fasting period.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir return will be voluntary and managed in a dignified manner. All refugees who wish to go back to their communities will be returned home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe plan to return the 20,000 refugees to Nigeria in phases and we plan to start the repatriation after the fasting period of Ramadan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe refugees have been in Chad for almost eight years and I thank the Chadian authorities for hosting and helping them for such a long time.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The refugees received gifts of 5,000 CFAF each from the state government.<\/p>\n

When asked if the government believed that some of the returnees would join an insurgent group, Zulum said that these were false claims and that no one would go back to the forest.<\/p>\n

AISHA SD JAMAL<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 20,000 refugees living in Chad will be repatriated to Nigeria at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, says Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":51421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanitarian","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51422,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51420\/revisions\/51422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}