For nine years, the Boko Haram militant group has plagued the countries surrounding the Lake Chad basin, displacing millions of civilians. Many Chadians once fled to nearby Niger for refuge, but they have now been forced to return to Chad as the security situation in Niger deteriorates.
Many of those who fled don’t have Chadian identity documents, so they do not qualify as refugees. This, in turn, means they do not receive much international help and instead spend their days waiting in a Chadian migrant camp with very poor sanitation.
Al Lamine Taher Ahmad is a 40-year-old Chadian who has spent the past two years in one such camp after fleeing Boko Haram.
“We have not been here in Chad for long; we grew up in Niger," he said. "We don’t know anyone here. We only know this camp is where the Chadian government told us to go.”
FRANCE 24’s Igor Strauss and Jerome Lang report.
