Niger
·
Please pray for
the children of Niger and Nigeria. Pray for their safety from Boko Haram, for
food and shelter.
·
Pray for reunion
of families and care of children who have lost loved ones. http://tinyurl.com/mc5fobd
Niger lifts refugee camp ban as record numbers flee
Boko Haram
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Mon, 26 Jan 2015
Author: Misha Hussain
The Niger government has
lifted a ban on refugee camps in the south of the country as record numbers
flee Boko Haram attacks in neighboring Nigeria. According to government
figures, some 150,000 refugees as well as returning Niger migrants are seeking
shelter amongst locals in Diffa, an impoverished region recovering from
drought. The World Food Programme (WFP) in Niger said the organization had to
reallocate funds from other programs to deal with the Nigeria crisis in 2014
and was struggling to secure funds for 2015.
"We hoped the
displacement would stop, but people continue to arrive, and our villages and
towns can no longer absorb the masses of people coming," Hassane Ardo Ido,
general-secretary of Diffa province, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The government had banned the
camps fearing Boko Haram fighters might use them as bases to launch attacks in
Niger and Nigeria as part of their drive to carve out an Islamic caliphate.
But a Niger government
official said communities in Niger's Diffa region had been overwhelmed by new
arrivals, prompting the government to reverse the two-year-old policy, a move
welcomed by the United Nations.
The shift in policy follows
months of lobbying by the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR), which argued
that the camps could provide protection, shelter and food for the refugees
without burdening the host population.
Karl Steinacker, UNHCR's
country director in Niger, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone
from Niamey the country had never seen this many Nigerian refugees before.
South Sudan
·
Please pray for
the child soldiers of South Sudan using the BBC article below. http://tinyurl.com/m7fpuhz
·
Remember to give
thanks for the release of the 280 child soldiers and pray for their healing and
restoration.
South Sudan militia frees first group of child
soldiers – UN 27 January 2015
A South Sudanese militia has
freed 280 child soldiers as part of a wider deal to release about 3,000
underage fighters, the UN's children agency UNICEF has said.
According to UNICEF, around
12,000 children have been forcibly recruited by armed groups in South Sudan
over the past year.
Child soldier case study: Silva, 11 years old:
I have been fighting for more
than two years. I haven't seen my mother and father since last summer.
I've seen many people killed
when I was on missions.
I had an AK-47. It was heavy.
I was fighting to protect my family and village.
Now I want to go to school
and learn. I don't want to fight anymore, I was scared.
The 3,000 young fighters due
to be released were members of a militia called the South Sudan Democratic Army
Cobra Faction.
"These children have
been forced to do and see things no child should ever experience," said UNICEF’S
South Sudan representative, Jonathan Veitch.
UNICEF said it was trying to
reunite the demobilized child soldiers with their families.
Faces of Children
- Please keep the members of the Faces of Children visioning team in prayer as they seek God’s guidance for this ministry. Pray God will bless them with a clear vision for the ministry and its future.
