More than 65 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide, 40.8 million of who are displaced within their own countries and known as internally displaced people (IDPs). Violent conflicts and natural disasters cause people to flee their homes, but because they do not cross international borders, IDPs are far too often forgotten.

The results are devastating. Boko Haram has created a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s north-east region. Over the last six years more than 2 million people have been forced to flee towns and villages across northern Nigeria’s Adamawa, Borno, Gobme and Yobe states, as their homes and farms have been razed to the ground by the violent terrorist group. Fields remain unplanted, and hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in inaccessible areas without food, water and basic health services. This has been going on for three consecutive years. Those who managed to escape went to Borno’s state capital, Maiduguri, finding shelter with host families, but consequently placing a colossal strain on the local population. Prior to the arrival of the internally displaced people, Maiduguri’s population was approximately 1 million; it now tops 2.4 million.

This massive surge of people is equivalent to the entire population of Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, fleeing to Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. Households normally comprising between seven and 10 people are now accommodating up to 80 people in a tiny space. Not everyone was fortunate enough to have relatives in the city: approximately 700,000 of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now living in either official IDP camps or ad hoc sites scattered throughout the city, often in extremely poor conditions. People who flee their homes due to violent conflicts or natural disasters do so with the expectation that they will return in a matter of days or weeks. However the stark reality is that they more often cannot return for years, sometimes decades, as conflicts or disasters continue, claiming their homes and destroying hopes of peace and security and a return to their homes of origin. The situation in Maiduguri is not sustainable.

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