“No matter how many problems Europeans have, it’s nothing like this,” summarises Modu Amsami, the informal leader of Monguno’s nine camps for internally displaced people (IDP). “Please, I’m appealing to Europeans to forget their minor problems. Let them come here and face our major problems.”
About 40% more people have been displaced throughout Nigeria’s Borno state (1.4 million) than reached Europe by boat in 2015 (1 million).
Across the region, the war against Boko Haram has forced more people from their homes – 2.6 million – than there are Syrians in Turkey, the country that hosts more refugees than any other.
Of the world’s 17 million displaced Africans, 93.7% remain inside the continent, and just 3.3% have reached Europe.
The international community has largely failed to help: UN funding is still 61% ($297m) short of its target.
The governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima, said, “If this madness is not solved, believe me you will see a mass of humanity trying to get to Europe via the Mediterranean.”
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