First law to protect displaced people

NIGER has adopted Africa’s first national law for the protection and assistance of people fleeing violence, floods and droughts, the government and the UN said on Thursday.

The government said there were about 174 000 displaced people in the country, mostly in regions where Islamist violence has spilled over from Mali and Nigeria.

That figure excludes those who were forced to leave their homes to search for grazing land or water, said Lawan Magagi, minister of humanitarian action and disaster management.

The law is based on the Kampala Convention, a 2009 AU treaty that establishes guiding principles for protection of displaced persons. |