Right now refugees are one of the hottest topics around the world. As Alya Omar mentions in her blog Thoughts of a Unicycling Meliorist with Trump as president refugees are in an even more unsure situation. The number one issue being, what do we do with all of these Syrian Refugees? No country really wants them, and however generous Germany is now, there is no way they will be able to absorb all the Syrian refugees into their society. But Syrian refugees are only one of the groups that is being forced from their homeland due to a bloody conflict. Boko Haram has been continuing his massacre and things don’t look to be getting better anytime soon.
Africa has about 17 million displaced people, with more than 93% of the displaced people remaining in continental Africa and barely 3% making the journey to Europe. This leaves a huge number of people that had to leave their normal live where a large majority were probably farmers, for new areas with no means of supporting themselves. This happened in Monguno, Nigeria.
Bokon Haram had taken control of Monguno for a period of time but, once the town was liberated by the Nigerian Army things did not get better. No aid organizations or leaders felt safe enough o return for another year and a half after liberation. In that time people have been fleeing to the city because Boko Haram remains close to the outskirts of the city which has caused even more issues. With no doctors, a increasingly large population, and very few sources of food things were bound to get ugly. Monguno had their first polio outbreak in years and with the only source of food being what can be helicoptered in, malnutrition is running rampant. In another town some 70 miles away, more than 50% of the population is unemployed because they were forced to move to safety but that did not include a plan with how to sustain themselves. When fleeing conflict or Boko Haram, as it was, finding safety for you and your family is the primary concern and if the U.S. and Europe are the humanitarian nations they claim to be we should be helping.
Syrian refugees are not the only refugees that need help, although their plight is not to be ignored either. Boko Haram has been committing atrocities for years, and we still have not taken action. What will it take for someone to take action and help the civilians in his sphere of influence? An oil interest?
