Niger: Diffa - a region devastated by the Boko Haram crisis

Videos and Photos11 May 2017

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Site for displaced people and refugees in Kintchandi. Thousands of families in search of refuge have settled around this village, near the main road that crosses the region. One-third of the displaced people in Diffa have been forced to flee two or more times because of violence in the last few years, exacerbating their vulnerability.

Site for displaced people and refugees in Garin Wazan. In Garin Wazan, there is currently a displaced community of more than 8,000 people from the islands of Lake Chad. “Boko Haram stole some of the cattle, and we lost the rest because we had to leave,” explains the community chief

The sites in Garin Wazan and Kintchandi were created in June 2016, when tens of thousands of displaced people had to flee after the attack on the town of Bosso, very close to the border with Nigeria. Most of them were already displaced people and this was just the latest movement they were forced to make.

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A water collection point for families in Garin Wazan. Despite the humanitarian aid, living conditions remain difficult in the camp and not all basic needs are met. A lack of water, latrines and food, in sufficient quantity and quality, are the main problems.

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School in Garin Wazan. According to UN data, 30 schools are still closed in Diffa due to the conflict, and the few that remain open don’t have any basic equipment. Access to education has also been greatly limited in recent years in the region.

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This road that crosses the Diffa region is asphalted until a little after Kintchandi, and then it becomes a dirt track. Many people have sought safety alongside it. In addition to the larger sites in Kintchandi and Garin Wanzan, there are many smaller ones along the road.

For years, the Diffa region in southeastern Niger, which borders Nigeria and Chad, has suffered the consequences of the armed conflict between Boko Haram and the armies of the area. Around 240,000 people have had their lives interrupted by the conflict, and have been forced to live in the camps for internally displaced and refugees that have proliferated throughout the region, with little hope for the future. Most of these people are totally dependent on humanitarian aid.