City of refugees
More than 400,000 Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram have sought shelter in the city of Yola
A girl sits with her belongings at St. Theresa church, in Yola, Nigeria.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro)A few girls managed to escape that night, saving themselves from a fate of forced marriage, forced labor, physical torture, and rape as captives in
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro)Peter Biro, a photographer with the International Rescue Committee, traveled to the Nigerian city of Yola, where more than 400,000 refugees have taken up residence — of a sort."People generally think of refugees housed in sprawling camps with rows of tarp tents, but the situation in Yola is actually quite typical — over half of the world's more than 50 million refugees and internally displaced live in urban areas," he says. "They move into poor communities, straining already scarce resources, which amplifies poverty in the host community."Only around 15 percent of Yola's recent arrivals have moved into government-run camps; others have found shelter with relatives or friends. The least lucky have disappeared into the urban mass — a problem for the government and international aid groups trying to help refugees get basics like food and water.
A father holds his newborn twins in a displacement camp housing nearly 3,000 refugees.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro) Compounding the problems facing both aid groups and the refugees is the sheer number of those needing assistance."Many of the camps lack the infras
Two boys stand next to a fire for cooking, at a displacement camp outside Yola.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro)
Volunteers play with displaced children during a recess at an IRC-run school program. The classes allow aid workers to identify children who have been separated from their families, or who are in need of counseling.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro) Biro is no stranger to speaking with groups who have endured traumas, and he says photographing people after they have experienced tragic events is
Gloria fled with her three small children after her husband was killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro)
A woman carrying her baby pauses for a photograph. She fled northeastern Nigeria following Boko Haram attacks.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro) Despite the horrors Biro heard as he documented the refugees' lives in Yola, he also found an impressive amount of resilience."The people I met are
A boy participates at a chalkboard during an IRC-organized class, in Yola.
(International Rescue Committee/Peter Biro) Fleeing Boko Haram is hardly the end of the refugees' fight. Most had to leave with hardly more than the clothes on their back. And the mass influx
