Cameroon: Anglophone conflict ranked second most neglected displacement crisis in the world for the year 2023.
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The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an International Organization operating in Cameroon in their recently published report for the year 2023 relating to the most neglected displacement crisis in the world have places Cameroon at the second position after Burkina Faso. The report which was published on 3 June 2024 shows that there is no improvement when it comes to humanitarian response in Cameroon. In the year 2021, Cameroon was ranked at the 3th position and in the year 2022, Cameroon was ranked at the number 8 position and in 2023, Cameroon at the 2nd position in the neglected crisis report by NRC. showing that there have not been an improvement in the provision of humanitarian response as compared to other conflicts.
According to NRC, ‘Continuous violence in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions persisted as the crisis entered its seventh year. In parallel, the security situation in Cameroon’s Far North region became increasingly volatile, with civilians frequently being targeted by non-state armed groups as fighting surged in the Lake Chad Basin area. Alongside mounting pressure internally, Cameroon also hosted refugees from neighbouring countries, stretching the country to its limits’
In their report, the NRC highlighted that the escalating violence has forced many Cameroonians to flee their homes, resulting in 1.1 million people displaced within the country by the end of 2023. The report also takes into consideration the arrival of refugees from the neighbouring Central African Republic which has put a further strain on resources, with almost half a million refugees now residing in Cameroon. ‘Access to services remains a challenge in the East region, where most refugees have settled, with occasional conflicts flaring up over resources’.
The situation of displaced persons in the the Far North region and the Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest is further explained by the organization, as they have struggled to find safety amid human rights violations including killings and abductions. Relating to food shortage, the NRC stated that, ‘access to food, water and basic healthcare was limited across Cameroon’ as there are increasing socioeconomic dimension, with every sector of the economy affected and rising food prices exacerbating rampant food insecurity. At least 2.5 million people are dangerously short of food.
According to NRC, a total of 4.7 million people required aid in 2023, while funds remained limited. Only 32 per cent of the humanitarian response plan was covered by international donors, the lowest rate since 2016. This left hundreds of thousands of people without lifesaving support and protection services, including basic services such as health and education, and legal aid to help them secure essential documents and land and property rights.
The three crises engulfing Cameroon remain off the map and the situation threatens to stagnate. Rising levels of unaddressed needs coupled with a lethargic response from the international community mean that another challenging year awaits Cameroon in 2024.
The methodology
All crises* that have displaced more than 200,000 people have been analysed – 39 crises in total. The report was generated based on three criteria, which were given equal weight:
1. Lack of international political will
A qualitative analysis of the international community’s willingness to contribute to political solutions was carried out on all 39 crises, based on contributions by NRC country and regional experts. For situations of ongoing conflict, the analysis covered relevant UN Security Council resolutions, peacekeeping missions, UN special procedure mechanisms, UN investigations, and any other relevant regional or international diplomatic efforts throughout 2023. The existence of special envoys for particular countries or regions was taken into consideration, as were any high-level international discussions or other international engagements in, for example, peacebuilding or human rights.
The analysis also looked at any significant trends in bilateral and multilateral donor support, with insights from NRC’s representative offices in key donor capitals.
This qualitative analysis was complemented by secondary sources of data including severity (INFORM Severity Index), access (ACAPS Humanitarian Access Overviews), fragility (OECD States of Fragility Index), populations at risk (Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect), and relevant displacement figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Finally, the level of political engagement was considered in relation to the size and severity of the displacement crisis and the number of refugees hosted.
2. Lack of media attention
The level of media attention towards the various displacement crises was measured using figures from the media monitoring company Meltwater, which measures online media coverage. To capture news stories focused on displacement, the search terms “displaced OR displacement OR refuge*” were used in conjunction with the country name. When comparing media attention towards the different crises, we calculated the media coverage relative to the number of people displaced by each crisis, including both internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees, using the latest figures from NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) for the number of conflict-displaced IDPs, and UNHCR for other figures.
3. Lack of humanitarian funding
Every year, the UN and its humanitarian partners launch funding appeals to cover peoples’ basic needs in countries affected by large crises. The amount of money raised for each crisis in 2023 was assessed as a percentage of the amount required to cover the needs. Where there was both a humanitarian appeal for support inside the country and a regional refugee response plan, these were averaged. Where there was no funding appeal, this criterion has been omitted from the analysis.
The percentage of the appeals covered gives us an indication of the level of economic support, but the results may be skewed by the humanitarian community sometimes adjusting their appeals to what they think may be achievable. While the humanitarian community in some countries tries to reach all people in need, the ambition level may be much lower in other countries.
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Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
