About 64,000 people have fled violence in northern Nigeria for neighboring Niger since the start of the year, and several hundred have gone to Benin, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. The agency said host countries are struggling to cope.
According to the UN News report on the announcement, northern Nigeria has faced overlapping security crises, including jihadist insurgencies, armed banditry and conflicts between farmers and herders. The report says these crises have forced millions of people from their homes over the past 25 years.
Most people who left Nigeria this year went to Niger, the report says. Before 2026, Niger already hosted more than half a million refugees and asylum-seekers, about 327,500 of them from Nigeria. It also has large numbers of people displaced inside its own borders.
In October alone, about 1,200 people crossed into Diffa, in south-eastern Niger, and another 3,400 crossed into Tahoua, in the west, the report says. Both areas border Nigeria. Diffa has accounted for more than 70% of Niger’s reported security incidents this year, including armed attacks and violence against civilians.
The report also describes drought and uneven rainfall that have hurt farming and grazing land. Grain production is expected to fall short in about 700 of the region’s 1,000 villages, and an estimated 70% of pastureland has been lost.
UNHCR stressed that newly arrived refugees, many of them children, face very difficult living conditions. According to the report, malnutrition levels are high because food and clean water are limited, and women described walking several kilometers to collect water. Many people live in makeshift shelters that offer little protection from the weather. Humanitarian partners are reporting poor hygiene and widespread respiratory infections.
The report says only about 5% of Nigerian refugees who arrived this year have been registered, and that a lack of funds is hampering the effort. Without documents, refugees face added barriers to help and essential services, which leaves them more exposed to protection risks.
Education is another concern, the report says. Children coming from Nigeria’s English-language-based school system find no schools or transitional classes at some locations. Hausa is the only official language of Niger.
Dominique Hyde of UNHCR said Niger’s authorities and host communities are showing “remarkable solidarity” with Nigerian refugees, including by making land available for temporary shelter. The report says their ability to support growing numbers of refugees is increasingly stretched, and UNHCR is calling on the international community to urgently increase its assistance.
UNHCR is seeking $11.4 million to expand its emergency response in Niger, Nigeria and Benin. That includes a $2 million appeal for immediate needs such as water, food, shelter, health care, registration and protection. Hyde said that without additional resources, thousands of vulnerable families risk being left without essential assistance and protection as displacement continues.