Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have not crossed an international border to find safety. Unlike refugees, they were forced from their homes inside their home country.
While they may have fled for similar reasons – violence, Human Rights violations – IDPs stay within the the borders of their own countries and remain under the protection and responsibility of their government.
UNHCR is using its decades-long expertise in protecting and assisting refugees to join hands with other agencies to also assist IDPs with a focus on protection, shelter, non-food items (such as blankets) and camp coordination/camp management.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram and other non-state armed groups as well as clashes between herders and farmers have pushed some 3.0 million Nigerians (as of November 2021) out of their homes, especially in parts of North-East Nigeria and the country’s Middle Belt, but increasingly also in North-West Nigeria.