For three years, northern Togo has experienced several attacks on which the Togolese authorities rarely communicate. This security situation has led to population displacements in the Savanes region and, more particularly, in the far northeast.
2 mins
The Catholic Church set up a committee in 2022 to help displaced populations whose needs are numerous even today. The current priority is displaced students. A month after the start of the school year, we must ensure that they go to school. However, families lack resources and some schools are overcrowded.
“ HAS Kondjouaré, the Kondjouaré-center school welcomes students from several other closed schools. It is the same in other villages. So, we are trying to identify these students and see what we can do to help them. We helped the parents at the beginning, but now we have to help the students so that they go to school », Underlines Father Gustave Wanme, vicar general of the diocese of Dapaong and head of the Emergency Assistance Committee for victims of attacks, in the Savanes region.
“ At first “, it was two to three years ago, during the first significant population movements, in the Savanes region, due to the security situation. Now, movements are sporadic, in small groups. The displaced are leaving rural areas, close to the border with the Burkina Faso, to reach urban areas, leaving behind their sources of income.
“ The danger is to think that there would be no more needs. No. Displaced families always need relief because needs change. Two, three years ago, it was emergency relief. Today is something else. They no longer have fields, their businesses are closed, so other needs are being created and which are much more important. “,specifies Father Gustave Wanme. These are daily challenges to which is added the violence suffered, a trauma for which the displaced also need support.
Also readTogo: Parliament extends state of emergency in savannah region for one year