Nigeria displaced children reunited with families amid Boko Haram's reign of terror

In situations of armed conflicts, family reunification is a right under international law. The fourth Geneva Convention clearly states that governments should take all possible steps to facilitate the reunification of separated families, According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

After several months of painstaking tracing work, nine Nigerian children and their families was finally been identified, and the children on Monday began the long trip home from Dar es Salam refugee camp in Chad, where they hosted after fleeing Boko Haram’s insurgency

The re-unification is an initiative by the aimed at reuniting reunite family members mainly in situations related to armed conflict and other situations of violence.

“All of these children come from a town called Baga, on the shore of Lake Chad in the north east of Nigeria. The town was hit by the armed conflict in early January 2015, and this is when these children became separate from their families. They boarded some boats, tried to save their lives, and they reached Chad, whereas their family members fled by road,” said Serena Tarabbia, ICRC Restoring Family Links Delegate.

Martha said once the organization discovers that a child is not in the company of his or her parents upon their arrival at the refuge center,they collect all the information they can about their families.

“We used the pictures of the children, we used the names of the children, and the names of their family members, and this is how we managed to locate their parents, their siblings, their grandparents.”

Although not new to the ICRC, its officials described the reunification moments they’ve witnessesed as overwhelming.

The programme has restored many families, who’s dreams of ever seeing their loved ones were disparaged as the Islamist group continues its strive to establish an Islam caliphate in northern Nigeria.

After several months of painstaking tracing work, nine Nigerian children and their families was finally been identified, and the children on Monday began the long trip home from Dar es Salam refugee camp in Chad, where they hosted after fleeing Boko Haram’s insurgency

The re-unification is an initiative by the aimed at reuniting reunite family members mainly in situations related to armed conflict and other situations of violence.

“All of these children come from a town called Baga, on the shore of Lake Chad in the north east of Nigeria. The town was hit by the armed conflict in early January 2015, and this is when these children became separate from their families. They boarded some boats, tried to save their lives, and they reached Chad, whereas their family members fled by road,” said Serena Tarabbia, ICRC Restoring Family Links Delegate.

Martha said once the organization discovers that a child is not in the company of his or her parents upon their arrival at the refuge center,they collect all the information they can about their families.

“We used the pictures of the children, we used the names of the children, and the names of their family members, and this is how we managed to locate their parents, their siblings, their grandparents.”

Although not new to the ICRC, its officials described the reunification moments they’ve witnessesed as overwhelming.

The programme has restored many families, who’s dreams of ever seeing their loved ones were disparaged as the Islamist group continues its strive to establish an Islam caliphate in northern Nigeria.

Reuters