BEVERLY HILLS, September 27, (THEWILL) – The Human Rights Watch, HRW, says the Cameroonian government has deported 100,000 Nigerian refugees in the hope of stemming the spread of Boko Haram.
The group, which investigates allegations of human rights abuses worldwide, said the claim is based on interviews with more than 60 refugees.
In a report issued on Wednesday, the Rights body pointed out that the action defied a plea by UN refugee agency for anyone not to be returned to north-eastern Nigeria “until security and human rights situation improved considerably”.
The HRW report lamented that the deported people were likely to face new violence, displacement and destitution.
It added that soldiers tortured, assaulted and sexually exploited Nigerian asylum seekers and denied them access to the UN refugee agency.
According to the HRW associate refugee director, Gerry Simpson, Cameroon deported, often violently, tens of thousands of the refugees since early 2015.
“The Cameroonian military torture and abuse of Nigerian refugees seems to be driven by an arbitrary decision to punish them for Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon and to discourage Nigerians from seeking asylum,” he said.
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