Refugees from Boko Haram to get $37 million more in U.S. humanitarian aid

ABUJA, Nigeria, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Another $37 million in humanitarian aid will be provided to refugees in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin who have fled Boko Haram insurgents, the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, announced.

Thousands have been killed since Boko Haram militants began raiding villages to establish an Islamic caliphate in West Africa, and more than 5 million refugees, dispersed through the Lake Chad Basin, need emergency food assistance, the embassy said. The assistance will also be delivered to communities in the Niger's Diffa region, to those fleeing Boko Haram attacks in Bosso, Niger, and will be coordinated with the humanitarian community in Nigeria.

Although Boko Haram's influence has waned in the past year, with an upgraded military response by Nigerian troops and an African coalition force, the refugee situation remains serious.

With the funding announced Wednesday, the United States is providing more than $318 million in assistance, through the United Nations and other non-governmental partners, in the 2015 fiscal year. The United States continues to be the single largest donor to the humanitarian mission in the Lake Chad area, which includes Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.