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.”
By Emman Ovuakporie
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