CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Human security shifts the focus of security from the protection of states and territory to the protection of people. The idea entered mainstream policy debate through the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report, which framed security around two ideas: freedom from fear and freedom from want (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 1994). Later scholarship has widened this to include freedom from indignity, and it describes human security as people-centred, covering threats that range from violent conflict to hunger, disease and repression (Tadjbakhsh, 2014). In this broad sense, human security is concerned with economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political security, and with protecting people from sudden disruptions to daily life at home, at work and in their communities.

Forced displacement is one of the most direct threats to these dimensions of security. West Africa and the wider Sahel are among the regions most affected. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that around four million people remain displaced across the Sahel, driven largely by continued insecurity in the Central Sahel (UNHCR, 2025). In the Lake Chad Basin, which covers parts of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, more than 3.5 million people are forcibly displaced and 8.2 million need humanitarian assistance. UNHCR recorded nearly 1,800 security incidents and more than 5,700 fatalities across the Basin between September 2025 and May 2026, and reports that one in five households no longer feel safe in their own community (UNHCR, 2026). These figures show that displacement in the sub-region is both a consequence of insecurity and a continuing source of vulnerability for displaced people and the communities that receive them.

The relationship between refugees and security has also been a major theme in political science. Salehyan and Gleditsch (2006) argue that refugee flows are not only a consequence of political turmoil. They contend that refugees can expand rebel social networks and may facilitate the cross-border spread of arms, combatants and ideologies, alter the ethnic composition of host states and intensify economic competition. Their analysis found that the presence of refugees from neighbouring countries increases the probability of violence in the host country. Salehyan (2008) extends this argument to the international level, suggesting that refugee flows can contribute to disputes between states. Importantly, both studies stress that most refugees never take part in violence. The risk lies in the conditions around displacement, such as armed groups operating among displaced populations and weak border and camp management.

More recent evidence complicates this picture. Zhou and Shaver (2021) analysed global subnational data from 1990 to 2018 and found no evidence that hosting refugees raises the likelihood of new conflict, prolongs existing conflict or increases violent events and casualties. They further found that, under some conditions, hosting provinces experienced development benefits and reduced conflict risk. Taken together, these studies indicate that the effect of refugee movements on security is not automatic. It depends on the context, on how displacement is governed, and on the support available to both refugees and host communities.

This debate has direct practical meaning for West Africa. UNHCR has noted that reconciling national security concerns with refugee protection remains a regional challenge, and it supported a regional dialogue on the subject in 2024 (UNHCR, 2024). This study therefore examines how the refugee crisis affects human security in West Africa, taking account of both the threats it creates and the conditions under which those threats can be reduced.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Refugee and displacement crises in West Africa are not only humanitarian emergencies. They place heavy demands on border states and host communities, which often have limited resources of their own. When displacement is prolonged, competition for land, food, water and services can increase tension between displaced people and their hosts. Where armed groups operate in border areas, there is also concern that displaced populations may be exploited or used as cover, and that insecurity in one state may spill over into its neighbours (Salehyan & Gleditsch, 2006). Because conflict and its human costs seldom remain within one country's borders, states in the region are better understood as interconnected than as isolated units.

At the same time, the evidence on how far refugees threaten host-country security is contested (Salehyan, 2008; Zhou & Shaver, 2021). Policy responses in the region may therefore rest on assumptions that are not well tested against local conditions. Treating refugees mainly as a security threat risks neglecting their protection needs, while ignoring genuine security risks leaves host communities exposed. Humanitarian needs in the Sahel have also risen faster than the resources available to meet them, and protection risks remain high (UNHCR, 2025).

There is thus a need for a clear, region-specific assessment of how the refugee crisis affects the safety, livelihoods and development of people in West Africa, and of what lessons can be drawn for policy. This study addresses that need.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of the refugee crisis on human security in West Africa. The specific objectives are to:

1. examine the social, political and economic dimensions of the refugee crisis in West Africa;
2. identify the problems associated with refugees and displacement in West Africa;
3. assess the implications of the refugee crisis for the region's social, political, security and economic development; and
4. draw lessons from national, regional and international experiences in addressing human security challenges linked to displacement.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What are the social, political and economic dimensions of the refugee crisis in West Africa?
2. What problems are associated with refugees and displacement in West Africa?
3. What are the implications of the refugee crisis for the region's social, political, security and economic development?
4. What lessons can be drawn from national, regional and international experiences in managing the human security challenges of displacement?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study is significant in the following ways:

1. Policy and early warning: Its findings can serve as an early warning indicator for governments seeking to maintain internal and border security in the region.
2. Humanitarian planning: It can help national agencies and international organisations to design responses that protect both refugees and host communities.
3. Regional cooperation: It can inform discussions in regional bodies on balancing national security concerns with refugee protection.
4. Academic contribution: It adds to the literature on forced displacement and human security in Africa and provides a basis for further research.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The study focuses on the impact of the refugee crisis on human security in West Africa. It covers the dimensions of displacement, the problems associated with it, and its implications for social, political, economic and security conditions in the sub-region, with attention to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Human security is examined across its main dimensions, including personal, community, economic, food and political security.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

1. Financial constraints. Limited funds may restrict the researcher's access to relevant literature and to data collection through the internet, questionnaires and interviews.
2. Time constraints. The study is being carried out alongside other academic commitments, which reduces the time available for research.
3. Data availability. Displacement figures in conflict-affected areas change quickly and may be incomplete, which may limit the precision of some findings. The researcher will use the most recent official data available and state their dates.

1.8 Definition of Terms

• Refugee: A person who has been forced to leave their country because of war, persecution or violence, and who is unable or unwilling to return.
• Internally displaced person (IDP): A person forced to flee their home but who remains within the borders of their own country.
• Crisis: A period of serious danger, difficulty or instability that calls for urgent decisions and action.
• Human security: An approach to security that treats the individual, rather than the state alone, as the main object of protection, with emphasis on freedom from fear, want and indignity.
• Security: The protection of people, communities and states against attack, danger and other threats.
• Human rights: The basic rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled, including fair and humane treatment, particularly by those in authority.

References

Salehyan, I. (2008). The externalities of civil strife: Refugees as a source of international conflict. American Journal of Political Science, 52(4), 787–801.

Salehyan, I., & Gleditsch, K. S. (2006). Refugees and the spread of civil war. International Organization, 60(2), 335–366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818306060103

Tadjbakhsh, S. (2014). Human security twenty years on (NOREF Report). Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre. https://noref.no/publication-documents/human-security-twenty-years-on/Tadjbakhsh_NOREF_Human-security_June-2014_FINAL.pdf

United Nations Development Programme. (1994). Human development report 1994: New dimensions of human security. Oxford University Press.

UNHCR. (2024). Update on UNHCR operations in West and Central Africa. https://unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/West-Central-Africa-75-ExCom-English.pdf

UNHCR. (2025). Update on UNHCR operations in West and Central Africa. https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/west-central-africa-76-excom-english.pdf

UNHCR. (2026). UNHCR warns Lake Chad Basin at tipping point as violence and displacement surge. https://www.unhcr.org/ie/node/27263

Zhou, Y.-Y., & Shaver, A. (2021). Reexamining the effect of refugees on civil conflict: A global subnational analysis. American Political Science Review, 115(4), 1175–1196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055421000502