Nearly 64,000 Flee Nigeria, Deepening Niger Crisis

Nearly 64,000 people have fled violence in northern Nigeria for Niger this year, while several hundred have sought refuge in Benin, widening a regional humanitarian emergency. Niger already hosts more than 500,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, including about 327,500 Nigerians, and the new arrivals are adding pressure in border regions already facing insecurity, climate shocks and overstretched services. More than 23,000 refugees—over two-thirds of them children—have reached Diffa, where many lack adequate food, clean water, shelter, health care and schooling; aid groups also report malnutrition, respiratory infections and poor sanitation. Only about 5% of this year’s Nigerian arrivals have been registered, leaving many without documentation needed to access assistance, while funding shortages are limiting the humanitarian response.