Hosting Biafran Child Refugees: the Inter-African Refugee and International Humanitarian Network System During the Nigerian Civil War, 1967 and Beyond

Abstract

Abstract The Nigerian civil war (1967–1970) was one of the post-independence conflicts in Africa that called for the separation of children from their mothers for treatment and rehabilitation outside their home country. Using archival data, the article investigates the workability of the inter-African Refugee Network System and international humanitarian organisations in the evacuation of Biafran children for recuperation and rehabilitation. The article argues that it was through a collaborative network involving the Catholic Church, the World Council of Churches and the International Committee of the Red Cross, that thousands of Biafran children were transported to other African countries such as Gabon, the Ivory Coast and the Island of Sao Tomé for treatment. It concludes that such a collaboration goes a long way to prove that Africans do not just feed the Global North with refugees but can host their own refugees, though not without the help of international humanitarian organisations.