7.3m+ people became refugees in West Africa due to military conflicts
Over 7.3 million West Africans have become refugees as a result of armed conflicts and natural disasters – as stated by Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, the Vice President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), TASS reports
The Guardian quoted the official as saying, “There are currently about 7,337,979 forcibly displaced persons due to conflicts, violence, and disasters in the ECOWAS region, including 6,526,928 internally displaced persons and 811,051 refugees and asylum seekers.”
According to Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, the current state of affairs in the ECOWAS region is characterised by an aggravation of humanitarian problems due to ongoing military conflicts. All this can lead to a mass exodus of the population, food insecurity, especially in the Sahel zone and in the Lake Chad basin. In this regard, she called on the world community to support the efforts of the ECOWAS leadership, which allocated about $9m to help refugees and stateless persons.