The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to Nigeria and ECOWAS has decried the increasing number of refugees in Africa.
The UNHCR representative, Mr Jose Canhandula made the censure on Tuesday in Abuja at an event to mark the World Refugee Day.
“There are around 20 million refugees and double that number of internally displaced persons in the world, half of whom are children. Majority of migrants who have arrived in Italy in 2016 are from Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Canhandula called for an urgent intervention by governments across the continent to address the issue of refugees and internally displaced persons.
He also advised African leaders to address the plight of illegal migrants who die in the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert in the hands of human and drug traffickers.
