Boko Haram victims fleeing Lake Chad basin islands

Thousands of displaced people in the lake Chad basin are fleeing islands to other areas as a result of the ongoing war against Boko Haram.

Estimates from the UN Office for humanitarian affairs indicate that more than 110,000 people have left about 85 islands to new sites.

Officials of the UN office for humanitarian affairs in Chad has been monitoring the situation.

People are not eager to remain. It is an indication of the level of insecurity. If the population is not ready to remain it is because the insecurity situation persists.

Latest DTM Cameroon data, 170,000 fleeing Boko Haram. Forgotten Lake Chad crisis IOMROWCA OCHAROWCA #GlobalDTM pic.twitter.com/dZCo57AQPM

— DTM IOM (@DTM_IOM) April 15, 2016

“People are not eager to remain. It is an indication of the level of insecurity. If the population is not ready to remain it is because the insecurity situation persists,” Florent Méhaule, Head of UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Chad said.

The continuous increase in the number of those displaced has made it difficult for the UN agencies to come to their aid.

Latest statistics from January this year indicate that close to 2.7 million people have been displaced so far in the lake Chad region.

AFP