MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the displacement of children in Northern Nigeria as a result of Boko Haram attacks
6.10.2015 - (2015/2876(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Cristian Dan Preda, Santiago Fisas Ayxelà, Jeroen Lenaers, Tunne Kelam, David McAllister, Patricija Šulin, Jarosław Wałęsa, Eduard Kukan, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Csaba Sógor, Francesc Gambús, Maurice Ponga, Lorenzo Cesa, Jiří Pospíšil, Davor Ivo Stier, Stanislav Polčák, Barbara Kudrycka, Tomáš Zdechovský, Therese Comodini Cachia, Giovanni La Via, Monica Macovei, Andrej Plenković, Marijana Petir, Roberta Metsola, József Nagy, Claude Rolin, Ivan Štefanec, Pavel Svoboda, Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz, Anna Záborská, Michaela Šojdrová, Jaromír Štětina, Adam Szejnfeld, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Barbara Matera, Lara Comi, Dubravka Šuica, Ivana Maletić, Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, Elisabetta Gardini, Francisco José Millán Mon, Mariya Gabriel on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-1003/2015
B8‑1029/2015
European Parliament resolution on the displacement of children in Northern Nigeria as a result of Boko Haram attacks
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Nigeria, notably those of 30 April 2015 and 17 July 2014,
- having regard to the statement of 3 July 2015 by the HR/VP on the attacks on Muslim worshippers in the north-east of Nigeria,
- having regard to the Report of the UN Secretary General's Report on Children and Armed Conflict published on 5 June 2015,
- having regard to the statements made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, on the continuing violence and deteriorating security in north-eastern Nigeria,
- having regard to the statements by the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights on the possibility that members of Boko Haram could be accused of war crimes,
- having regard to the communiques of the African Union Peace and Security Council adopted on 29 January and 3 March 2015,
- having regard to the call made by UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict on 16 January 2015 for urgent action to protect children in north-east Nigeria,
- having regard to the joint communiqué of 27 November 2014 at the 5th EU-Nigeria dialogue in Abuja, condemning the atrocities of Boko Haram,
- having regard to the UN Declaration of 1981 on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief,
- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- having regard to the Cotonou Agreement,
- having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the Boko Haram terrorist group has been a growing threat for the stability of Nigeria and the West African region since it launched its military operation in 2009;
B. whereas Boko Haram has taken and held a number of towns in north-east Nigeria and has been attacking Nigeria's police and military, politicians, schools, religious buildings, public institutions, and civilians;
C. whereas Boko Haram has recently stepped up its violent activities, with several attacks and suicide bombings in the Nort-East, causing additional displacement and increasing the need for urgent humanitarian aid;
D. whereas the Islamist group forcibly recruits civilians to their ranks, including many children; whereas the use of children as suicide bombers is dramatically increasing both in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries;
E. whereas according to the UNSR for Children and Armed Conflict, this past year, the armed conflict in north-eastern Nigeria was one of the world's deadliest for children, with killings, a growing recruitment and use of children, countless abductions and sexual violence against girls;
F. whereas according to UNICEF, 500,000 children were uprooted over the past five month, which brings to 1,2million the total number of children forced to flee the country to escape the violence caused by Boko Haram, and thousands of them were separated from their families;
G. whereas five children, four girls and one boy, were behind a series of blasts in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on October 1st in which at least fifteen people, including the bombers, died and more than 35 were injured in the attacks at a mosque and house of vigilante leader
H. whereas two bomb blasts that ripped through the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja on October 2nd have left at least 18 people dead and 41 wounded according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
I. whereas in April 2015, Nigerian troops rescued 450 women and girls in the Sambisa Forest during a military operation; whereas on 23 September, the Nigerian military freed 241 women and children in a raid on two camps controlled by Boko Haram in Jangurori and Bulatori;
J. whereas on 10 September, Boko Haram attacked Nigeria's largest camp for displaced people in Yola, killing at least seven people, including five children;
K. whereas in April 2015, the bodies of at least 400 men, women and children were found in mass graves in Damasak following a military operation that freed the town from Boko Haram;
L. whereas more than 2,000 young women and girls have been abducted, subjected to physical and psychological abuse, compelled to convert to Islam, or trained to fight since 2014; whereas in April 2014, more than 276 were kidnapped from a government school in Chibok and the majority remains missing and are at serious threat of sexual violence, slavery and forced marriage;
M. whereas in March 2015, Boko Haram pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State group; whereas Boko Haram's aim is to establish a full Islamic state in Northern Nigeria, including the implementation of criminal sharia courts and to forbid Western education;
N. whereas the humanitarian situation has severely deteriorated in north-east Nigeria with worsening food insecurity, poor access to education, lack of safe drinking water and health services;
O. whereas since 2009, Boko Haram engaged in a deadly campaign against places of learning; whereas more than 300 schools have been severely damaged or destroyed, with an estimated number of 200,000 children without access to education;
P. whereas in June 2015, the EU provided €21 million in humanitarian aid to help displaced people in Nigeria and neighbouring countries affected by the violence of terrorist organisations;
Q. whereas Nigeria is the most populous, ethnically diverse country in Africa marked by regional and religious cleavages and a North-South divide with severe economic and social disparities;
1. Condemns, once again, the ongoing and increasingly disturbing violence, including the continuing wave of gun and bomb attacks, sexual slavery and other sexual violence, kidnappings and other violent acts committed by the terrorist sect Boko Haram against civilian, government and military targets in Nigeria, which have led to thousands of deaths and injuries and have displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and which could constitute crimes against humanity;
2. Expresses its deepest sympathy with the survivors of Boko Haram atrocities and conveys its condolences to the families of the victims;
3. Strongly condemns the use of women and children to carry out suicide attacks;
4. Urges the Nigerian authorities to thoroughly investigate on the grave violations committed against children;
5. Recalls that one year and a half has passed since the abduction of 276 girls from a school outside Chibok; calls for their immediate and unconditional release and urges the government to do everything in their power to find and free them, and bring those responsible to justice;
6. Calls on the Nigerian government and authorities to work together to ensure that all rescued young women and girls are brought home safely, to improve transparency about the rescue efforts and to provide adequate information as well as medical and psychological support to families of abducted girls in order to end the climate of suspicion;
7. Calls on the EU and its Member States to offer their support to Nigeria in its on-going efforts to protect its citizens and defeat terrorism in all its forms, in full respect of human rights;
8. Calls on the Nigerian authorities to take greater responsibility in addressing the root causes of terrorism and actively combat extremism and radicalism; insist on the need to apply ethical values when taking concrete actions to deal with terrorism, corruption and the poverty and inequality that the country faces;
9. Underlines the importance of regional cooperation for addressing the threat posed by Boko Haram; therefore welcomes the efforts made by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and the African Union in their common fight against terrorism; further encourages the countries in the region to deepen their cooperation, including through the relevant regional organisations; calls on the EU institutions and Member states to lend their support to these regional efforts;
10. Calls on the EU and its Member States to uphold their commitment to providing a comprehensive range of political, development and humanitarian support to Nigeria and its people in tackling the Boko Haram threat and ensuring the development of the country;
11. Welcomes the efforts made by the EU to increase its assistance to Nigeria and other affected countries; however recalls that appeals for 2015 to help displaced people in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger are still half-funded; therefore calls on the Member States and the international community to step up their humanitarian aid to improve the situation of Nigerian refugees, in particular displaced children from the conflict-affected area, and to urgently tackle the current emergency levels of malnutrition and disease outbreaks;
12. Recognises that Nigeria has the potential to be the economic and political powerhouse of Africa but that its development has been held back by poor economic governance, weak democratic institutions and massive inequality; in this regards welcomes that the rule of law, governance and democracy is one of the three key development sectors which will be supported through the 11th EDF with a sum of 90 million (17 percent of Nigeria's NIP) EUR 2014-2020; calls on the Commission to substantially increase funding for the mentioned sector in the mid-term EDF review;
13. Instructs its President to forward this Resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Commission Vice-President / EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the African Union, and the President, Prime Minister and Parliament of Nigeria.